UK Prime Minister David Cameron's #1 Priority: Maintenance of Government Spying

UK's prime minister, David Cameron, is so in love with state monitoring of internet and phone calls that he supports an emergency data law to underpin security surveillance

David Cameron is to push though emergency laws to allow police and security agencies to maintain access to phone and email data, amid warnings that vital security operations were about to be compromised without it.

Telecoms operators and the security services told the prime minister they were on the cusp of having to curb some of their most important electronic eavesdropping activities after a European Court of Justice ruling struck down the legal framework that allowed telecoms companies to retain data for a year, according to government and industry figures.

Operators were also threatening to delete details of UK customers’ data for fear of being sued by them, unless the coalition set down a clearer legal framework around intercepting terrorist and criminal communications.

Mr Cameron said his main priority was to “keep people safe” as he and his deputy prime minister Nick Clegg announced the new legislation.