Clarke calls for retention of internet and phone data

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has urged MEPs to support proposals to retain internet and mobile phone records for longer, in order to help combat terrorism.

Speaking to European MPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Mr Clarke said: “Of course criminals and terrorists use modern technology – the internet and mobile communications – to plan and carry out their activities.

“We can only effectively contest them if we know what they are communicating. Without that knowledge we are fighting them with both hands tied behind our backs.

“And, of course, the criminals know that and organise themselves to take advantage of our weaknesses.”

There have been concerns raised by some MEPs that the retention of such data could breach human rights legislation, while the telecommunications industry has expressed fears about the cost of the measures.

However, the Home Office said that the costs were acceptable. The British government has already agreed a deal with one mobile phone company to retain data for 12 months at a cost of €1.2 million.

Mr Clarke has also called for a rethink of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prevents terror suspects from being deported to countries with poor human rights records, where they could face persecution.

He also said that the British judiciary should respect controversial deals struck with countries such as Jordan and Algeria, in order to deport terror suspects.

Mr Clarke said: “This European Parliament, as well as national parliaments, needs to face up to the fact that the legal framework within which we currently operate makes the collection and use of this intelligence very difficult, and in some cases, impossible.”

However, Martin Schultz, leader of Socialist MEPs said that the problem was that “member states do not have confidence in one another’s procedures”. He said: “We have to eliminate that contradiction. Until we do, we can talk and talk, but we won’t have an efficient fight against crime.”

Mr Clarke is hoping to secure an agreement before the end of the UK’s EU presidency in December.

(KMcA/SP)