The new Investigatory Powers Bill was announced in the Queen's speech Getty

New surveillance laws will give the police and security services unprecedented powers, the government has announced.

The new Investigatory Powers Bill, announced in the Queen's speech, will include not only the previously blocked snooper's charter but also measures for additional bulk interception of communications under warrant.


The Queen said the new bill would "modernise the law on communications data", although such a wide-ranging expansion of surveillance powers had not been expected. The government said the new legislation would "provide police and intelligence agencies with the tools" to keep people safe.

Referring to the expanded scope of the bill, the government said it would "address gaps" in current intelligence gathering and surveillance laws. Such gaps prevent law enforcement and intelligence services from tackling terrorism and serious crime, the Home Office argued.

Previous attempts to pass the controversial snooper's charter were blocked by the Liberal Democrats, with Nick Clegg saying such measures would not be passed while he was in government. Handed an unexpected majority, the government is now seeking to comprehensively expand the scope of surveillance laws.

The new bill would also introduce "appropriate oversight and safeguard arrangements", the government said. Further details on how the bill will work are due to be published in the coming days.


In summary, the government claimed the new bill would:

Give new powers to police and intelligence agencies to "keep you and your family safe"

Fill "gaps" in existing surveillance and data collection laws that make it difficult to "combat terrorism and other serious crime"

Maintain current abilities to "target" online communications of "terrorists, paedophiles and other serious criminals"

Modernise outdated laws to ensure that are "fit for purpose"

Ensure there is "appropriate oversight" and safeguards for how the powers are used

The proposed legislation was criticised by the Open Rights Group, whose executive director Jim Killock said the government wanted to spy on "everyone, whether suspected of a crime or not". "The government is signalling that it wants to press ahead with increased powers of data collection and retention for the police and GCHQ, spying on everyone, whether suspected of a crime or not," he said. "This is the return of the snooper's charter, even as the ability to collect and retain data gets less and less workable. We should expect attacks on encryption, which protects all our security. Data collection will create vast and unnecessary expense."

The government also said the legislation would take into account issues raised by David Anderson QC, who has carried out a review of existing counter-terror legislation. The report is due to be published in the next few days.