What next for civil liberties and the Conservative Party?

In 2009, David Cameron warned that the UK was becoming a “control state” after many of the New Labour Government’s policies had “diminished personal freedom”.

The Conservative Party proudly stood against ID cards and legislated to scrap them during the coalition Government. But the end of a period of 14 years in Government saw the Conservative Party take a more authoritarian turn pushing for more Orwellian live facial recognition surveillance of the general population, introducing divisive COVID-ID, imposing protest crackdowns and even introducing online speech controls.

With free speech battles on the horizon under a Labour government, digital currency proposals, and the prospects of surveillance and AI entering many more areas of public life, what approach will the Conservative Party take on the big civil liberties issues ahead? What are the leadership candidates' scorecards like on civil liberties, and how will it affect their prospects?

Chairing the event is Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch, with speakers including Sir David Davis MP, Mark Littlewood (Director of PopCon), Joy Morrissey MP and Noa Cohen (Director of Next Gen Tories).

About Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch is a UK civil liberties campaign group fighting for a free future. We’re determined to reclaim our privacy and defend freedoms at this time of enormous technological change. And we fight to win.

We’re a fiercely independent, diverse, non-partisan and non-profit group of campaigners and researchers, who work to roll back the surveillance state and protect rights in parliament, the media, and the courts if we have to. We publish unique investigations and pursue powerful public campaigns to pursue real change. We work relentlessly to inform and empower the public to collectively reclaim privacy, defend our civil liberties, and protect freedoms for the future.

Big Brother Watch will be hosting events during Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat party conferences. Find our updates on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

For more information about this event or our work more broadly, please contact us: [email protected]

Host or Publisher Big Brother Watch