Conservative Party losses means government plan of taking over and running the internet likely to be shelved

By Tony Attwood

It is a shame that most electors in the UK don’t read party manifestos, for if they did it would stop them getting some nasty shocks in the months and years following an election.

But they never learn and this year the Conservative Party pledge to introduce huge regulations on the way the internet works, using the now notorious phrase, “Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet.  We disagree,” would have allowed the government to decide what is said online.  It  gained no support from other parties, and I am certain that feeling will now be enhanced as the Party looks to find ways to hold onto power.

 

The plan was to allow Britain to become “the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet”, and would add further the to Investigatory Powers Act through which the government can and does force internet companies to keep records on their customers’ browsing histories, as well as giving ministers the power to break apps like WhatsApp so that messages can be read.

With even more wide ranging powers it would have meant that any website run from the UK, such as this one, would be in danger of being shut down without warning.  Since the process would undoubtedly have been handled by automatic systems everyone would face sudden removal and mega fines, and then a process of appeal which could take years.  We certainly could not have survived – the risk would have been too great.

So it looks like Untold – and of course all the other blogs – now will not face this threat.  And although many of us here fundamentally disagree with and often utterly dislike some of the other blogs we face, we’ve never wanted them to be forced to shut.  The democratic nature of our society demands that even in football, all legal voices should be heard no matter how much we disagree with them.

The election result was also a triumph for Arsenal’s MP, Jeremy Corbyn, who is himself an Arsenal supporter, and who was predicted at the start of the campaign to be doomed, and his party with it.  It was also a personal triumph for Mr Corbyn, who gained an amazing 40,086 votes in Islington North wherein Arsenal is based.  The Conservatives who came second won 6,871 votes.

So with us able to breathe a little easier this morning, we can now start getting on with life again while the politicians argue about the nature of reality, and other such things.

I’ll be back with some football thoughts in a short while – but it has been a bit of a long night so it may take a little time.

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19 Replies to “Conservative Party losses means government plan of taking over and running the internet likely to be shelved”

  1. Everything now hinges on the DUP. With the Conservatives desperate to form a government, albeit a coalition one, everything depends on what the DUP can squeeze out of the Tories in concessions. My immediate thoughts are those surrounding what’s good for Northern Ireland, and this could include dispensation from UK general policy, in return for supporting a hard Brexit.

    If Theresa May survives as Tory Leader, and indeed, as PM, than you can imagine all sorts of “payback” to the country for putting her in this damaging position.

    Therefore, a policy of “controlling the Internet” within England, Wales and Scotland, but excluding Northern Ireland, is a n extreme possibility.

    The only sure thing that has come out of this election is that this government is not going to last 5 years. Indeed, some political commentators are suggesting it might not last beyond October.

    In the meantime, we ALL need to support football sites such as UA.

  2. This “proposal” is not new to censor the internet.
    In fact this is just a test to see how far along the people are in accepting their proposals. This test will probably be done in every country too.

    There will be “highlighted” incidents in the next years to further cement the thought in peoples minds that the internet is bad. This is their pattern of working.

    Then “Internet2” will suddenly appear, all ready and designed to curb the information spread.

    It’s this freedom of information that they really fear, as it causes people to think.

    And football, will have to follow the rules too.

    Look what happens to AW for being and thinking differently.

  3. Here’s hoping the politicians see some sense in cooperating towards a successful Brexit. We must not pay for the exit, rather we should get huge refunds & reparation for the security & protection that we gave Europe in times of war with the help of allies & the Commonwealth. There will be more to come but not in our lifetimes.

  4. Well, for all that’s on record officially now is Theresa May has won the election she called for, but being a Parliamentary democracy, her Tories led government can be defeated in the Parliament if the MPs from the 2nd largest Labour Party and the other small Parties gang up to defeat any new policy of the Tories government introduced for legislation in the Parliament such as the proposed censorship to regulate the indiscriminate use of the internet for illegal and terrorist activities.

    Jeremy Gorbyn, a professed Arsenal supporter and his Labour Party had to be congratulated for their strong showing in this general election. And in particular for Mr Gorbyn winning the Islington seat convincingly. By the way, which football club in the England is Mrs May supporting?

    One cannot totally fault the Tories for proposing to curtail the excess use of the Internet in particular in the UK. Intelligent reports by the MI5 must have informed the ruling Tories government of the gross abuse of the use of the Internet by the Islamic terrorists posing to the security of the UK as ISIL are taking the advantage of the free use of the Internet to enhance their murderous operations in the UK.

    However, I believe any legislation so introduced to control the use of the Internet, be it by the Tories or by the Labour led government will take into cognizant that not all the internet sites such as the Untold Arsenal website in the UK are among the disguised terrorists Internet websites. Therefore, we on the UA should have nothing to fear because our hands are clean. And besides, I believe Jeremy Gorbyn will be there in the Parliament ready to defend any Arsenal interest that maybe under threat of any government Internet controlled legislation.

  5. So the polls were right all along and we got the closest of results since the last close result (2010) which will almost certainly lead to a Tory coalition with the DUP and another election not too far down the line.
    Perhaps Brexit will become a major issue and another referendum called to (hopefully) overturn the disaster of the one which has lead to this situation we now unfortunately find ourselves in.
    Well done to Corbyn & the Labour Party. I never thought I would ever put that into print.

  6. I’d like to know who wrote the Tory manifesto. Whoever it was, I hope their parents give them a volley and tell them to go to bed earlier the night before they write the next one. The Tories really are like Arsenal – always keen to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.

  7. Clockendrider

    “The Tories really are like Arsenal – always keen to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

    Yet another derogatory statement about Arsenal without any basis in fact what-so-ever.

    Over the last 20 years we have reached 7 FA Cup finals and won 6 of them.

    Hardly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

    Also, just on perception alone, I always had the impression that far from ‘Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ we where far more likely to ‘snatch victory from the jaws of defeat’ but without hours of research it’s pretty hard to prove.

    That being said I did find one statistic from last season that bears my inclination out, and that is regarding late goals scored, or more specifically goals scored after 65 minutes.

    The following is a table of 0% of goals scored after the 65th minute for the top 6:

    Arsenal = 76%

    Man City = 68%

    Chelsea = 66%

    Spurs = 62%

    Man Utd = 61%

    Clearly the best when it comes to late goals, and by some distance. This hardly suggests a team that habitual ‘clutches defeat from the jaws of victory’ does it.

    Look, I know it was only a little throw away remark, and possibly even meant more in jest than anything else, but as some of you may of noticed I really am getting a little tired of these baseless digs at us, constantly undermining Wenger as a manager, Arsenal as a team, and Arsenal FC as a Club.

    Sorry to sound off but it just annoys me.

  8. Nitram

    Pretty sure your figures are wrong

    Arsenal scored 78 league goals last season. If , as you suggest 76% of them were scored after 65 minute that would mean only 24% of them or 19 were scored in minutes 1-64 whereas I just a quick look at the results show that over 40 were scored in that period.

  9. Mike T

    Yep you’re right, sorry about that. Went back to check and I’d used total goals ‘for and against’. Wasn’t very well expressed anyway and have found a much simpler expression of what I wanted to show on this site:

    http://www.soccerstats.com/timing.asp?league=england

    The following are goals for and against for the top 6 teams from the 76th minute onwards:

    Chelsea 22 – 4

    Spurs 21 – 4

    Man C 19 – 10

    Liverpool 7 – 8

    Arsenal 23 – 6

    Man U 12 – 8

    Which hardly suggests we have a propensity to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory does it ? Quite the opposite in fact.

    All I did, and am trying to do as often as I can, is to show just how many of these criticism’s aimed at us, no matter how trivial they may seem, are often without any basis what so ever,

    Why Clockendrider chose to get so upset about it I don’t know. Perhaps finding some stats showing I’m wrong would of been a better idea. After all that’s what you took the time to do.

    And thanks for pointing out my original error.

  10. Tony, don’t worry about the government internet control for a few years to come. Whichever party is in power after the next election can pick it up again (It’s not just a ‘Tory’ thing, it’s a government thing irrelevant of which party!).

  11. The Tories are nothing like the Arsenal.

    The Eton old boyz in N5 didn’t need to rip off the taxpayer whilst lining their own pockets. The evidence is there in concrete, quite a lot of it, cheers.

    *coughs N17 coughs future PM Boris’boondangle that can’t be airbrushed out of the record*

  12. The polls predicted a tory majority fo May at the beginning of May.

    What kind Liar would attempt to claim otherwise? The kind of Liar that continuously fails to troll another blog.

  13. Reminds me of genius hack Andrew Marr ‘s grit-arsed plunditry:

    Who could’ve imagined such a campaign for Cobyn?

    Er, perhapos someone who was paying attention during his last two campaigns, you know, whilst failing yet again to shovel their rabid grit onto the electroate?

    What is it that inspires these failing trolls both here and elsewhere, such prized idiots and liars who have to make clowns of thenmselves whilst feeling compelled to express their bile and ignorance? I think we all know the answer! LOL!

  14. Marr: “who could have imagined such a campaign for Corbyn”

    Not the disingenious plonkers of this world, that’s for sure!

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