Lynne Featherstone MP for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lib Dem). In one of the largest overturns of majorities at the 2005 General Election, Featherstone ousted Roche with a majority of 2,395 votes; a swing from a Labour majority of 10,614. A member of the Liberal Democrat Shadow cabinet as International Development spokeswoman, Lynne was recently promoted in December 2006 from home affairs. Her blog was one of the runners-up in the Guardian's political blog of the year awards 2004. She was also shortlisted in the Rising Stars category of the 2006 Channel Four Political Awards and her blog has twice been nominated for the New Statesman New Media Awards.

Issues

How to lobby Lynne

"And what would really impress me? What would make lobbying an MP really effective? Here's one thought: quoting my own words back at me. With my website, blog and thousands of leaflets, there are plenty of public words of mine to pick up on. And if you don't have any leaflets, there are several libraries that keep good leaflet collections"

Communications Data Bill

"Following the Joint Committee’s report into the Draft Communications Data Bill, Nick Clegg has stated that it is clear that we cannot proceed with this Bill and the Government has to go back to the drawing board.

"Any modernisation of powers, including possible new legislation, must meet the Joint Committee's concerns by having the best possible safeguards and keeping costs under control."

Full reply: Lynne Featherstone MP/Communications Data Bill constituent reply

Identity cards

She is an opponent of the ID Cards Bill and was on the front bench for the Lib Dems on the Bill.

Commenting on Tony Blair’s announcement that identity cards will form a ‘major plank’ of the Labour Party manifesto at the next General Election, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone MP said

"The Prime Minister seems determined to push ahead with identity cards despite the growing body of opinion warning against their implementation."

"Identity cards will cost a fortune and won’t stop terrorism or fraud. If Tony Blair wants to nail his legacy to ID cards then it will be a suitable end to his faltering premiership."

DNA database

Against the DNA database: has asked a number of questions about it in parliament and uncovered worrying information. Also see Lynne Featherstone's campaing page Protecting innocent people's DNA

Featherstone said: "What confidence can we have in the Government's reassurance of the DNA database having proper safeguards when, until last year, they didn't even collate requests properly?"

Lynne Featherstone wrote in The House Magazine A fingerprint too far 4 December 2006

There are now around 140,000 people on the National DNA database who have never been charged or cautioned with a criminal offence, including nearly 25,000 children. Moreover, nearly a quarter of the people in the National DNA database are from BME communities – although they make up under one in ten of the population as a whole. In other words, for example, an innocent black man is far more likely to have their DNA stored in the national database than an innocent white man. Having a national crime-fighting database that singles out innocent members of ethnic minorities in this way raises a whole host of problems, including equity, reducing the confidence of people in the fairness of the police and their work and the risk of further discrimination up the line if the records are ever misused - and remember how often in the past big databases have gone wrong, had their security compromised or been misused. ... A person who wrongly arrested and is not charged or cautioned should be able to choose whether their DNA can be retained.

Lynne Featherstone MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, May 7 2006 ... the answer I got to a Parliamentary Question on what percentage of innocent DNA comes from black and ethnic minorities. It's about 24% nationwide - but the figure that no one is picking up on yet - is that in London this kicks up to 57% of innocent DNA is coming from non-whites. It's huge – way, way above their actual representation in the population as a whole.

Lynne Featherstone wrote What do the innocent have to fear from a DNA database?

But just because there are many good and worthy things that can be done with DNA, that does not mean that anything and everything is ok. It’s just the same as with jailing people. Jailing someone is often good and right, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need rules to control who can be jailed, how and for what reasons.

Wrote the Early Day Motion DNA Database 15 November 2006

That this House recognises the vital role DNA and the DNA database play in the detection of crimes but is concerned about the retention of DNA samples on the National Police Database of those individuals who are neither charged nor cautioned; further recognises the potential detrimental effect the retention of DNA samples has on innocent juveniles; further recognises that there is a disproportionate number of DNA samples retained from members of black and ethnic minorities; and therefore calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to remove the DNA samples of non-charged and non-cautioned individuals currently on the database, except when the individuals concerned give their willing and continuing consent to the retention of their DNA.

Wrote the Early Day Motion Retention of DNA samples 19 July 2006

That this House recognises the vital role DNA and the DNA database play in the detection of crimes but is concerned about the retention of DNA on the National Police Database of those individuals who are neither charged nor cautioned; further recognises the potential detrimental effect the retention of DNA has on innocent juveniles; further recognises that there is a disproportionate number of DNA samples retained from members of black and ethnic minorities; and therefore calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to remove the DNA samples of non-charged and non-cautioned individuals currently on the database, except when the individuals concerned give their express consent to the retention of their DNA.

Signed Early Day Motion 1697 Use of the DNA database 27 Febuary 2006

That this House expresses its concern about the retention of DNA data taken from children aged 10 to 18 years who have never been charged or cautioned with any offence; notes large regional differences in retention policy between various police forces; and believes that this imbalance is being further exacerbated by the Government's unwillingness to issue clear guidelines to chief constables about the removal of innocent children from the National Police DNA Database.

It's voluntary - until they say no 2004

In practice, we are getting mandatory DNA testing and a national DNA database by the backdoor.

Computer Misuse Act

In the parliament committee stage after the second reading Lynne Featherstone MP, prevented it from being made even worse. She is leading the Lib Dems on on this bill. Police and Justice Bill 2006

Intercept Modernisation

Lynne is critical of Home Office talk of a database of all phone calls and emails made anywhere in the country. [1]

"My criticisms in both cases are three-fold: the money involved could be better spent on other projects (such as giving us more police rather than keeping huge databases of the activities of innocent people), they involve a huge infringement of our liberties and privacy, and – thirdly - big IT projects like this are likely to go wrong and to be vulnerable to misuse."

Freedom of Information

Lynne Featherstone's blog Extending freedom of information 12 June 2007

I am sponsoring my Lib Dem colleague Tom Brake's 10 Minute Rule Bill today which extends the Freedom of Information Act to stop ministers having the final say and putting that say instead in the hands of the Information Commissioner and Tribunal. It also brings in laws about delay - as prevarication is often the game and non-supply - let alone timely supply. It would also brings private contractors who do public sector contract work into the remit of freedom of information legislation. So - a good thing to be sponsoring!

Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006

That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.

Children's Digital Rights

comment #7 Do you know if your child’s school is fingerprinting? 7 June 2007

This issue came up in my constituency when it came to light that one school was fingerprinting children. The issues are around - parental information and consent, proper guidelines for schools - but also whether fingerprinting is over-the-top response - such as whether it is just being used to help keep track of library books (which has been one of the reasons given for fingerprinting kids).

As ever - it’s a headlong rush into more Big Brother without proper debate, consultation or guidelines.

Signed Early Day Motion 686 biometric data collection in schools 19 January 2007

That this House is alarmed at the growing practice of schools collecting and storing the biometric details of children as young as three; notes that up to 3,500 schools use biometric software to record the data of approximately three quarters of a million children; shares parents' concerns that children's data, often including photographs and fingerprints, is stored on unregulated data collection systems and potentially insecure school computer networks and could therefore potentially be misused; notes that collecting the data from children under 12 without parental consent directly contravenes the Data Protection Act; believes that no child should have biometric information taken without the express written permission of their parents; further believes that no child should be excluded from school activities where this permission is not forthcoming; welcomes the decision by the Department for Education and Skills to update guidance to local authorities and schools; and calls on the Government to conduct a full and open consultation with stakeholders, including parents and children, on this issue as part of their redrafting process.

Adult content filters

Department for Education consutation regarding requiring users to "opt-in" to being able to access adult content.

Open Source Software

Signed Early Day Motion 179 Software in Schools 21 November 2006

That this House congratulates the Open University and other schools, colleges and universities for utilising free and open source software to deliver cost-effective educational benefit not just for their own institutions but also the wider community; and expresses concern that Becta and the Department for Education and Skills, through the use of outdated purchasing frameworks, are effectively denying schools the option of benefiting from both free and open source software and the value and experience small and medium ICT companies could bring to the schools market.

News

2008-09-14 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Congratulations to the winning bloggers...: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Last night the blog of the year awards were presented at Liberal Democrat conference. Many congratulations to all the winners - details here - and now I'm off to be interviewed by a group of Lib Dem bloggers. Watch out on the internet for the results!

2008-06-23 - Liberal Conspiracy - If I could commission one government IT project: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: I've been pretty critical of two massive government IT projects – the existing plans to introduce mandatory identity cards with a huge database behind them and also the Home Office talk of a database of all phone calls and emails made anywhere in the country.

2008-02-18 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - What would you do with 20,000 files of personal information, including bank details?: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: If you're Haringey Council - the answer is, "leave the dumped in a squatted building". Yes - really! That's what The Sun has discovered. The building in question is in Crouch End, and used to be used by a council Housing Benefit office. But when they stopped using the building, they failed to secure or clear out the files. Instead, we have a building open to anyone to walk in - and stuffed full of 20,000 personal files, including in many cases all the details needed for identity theft. I am shocked and extremely concerned for the people affected. ...

2008-01-31 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - What's it like in Google's offices?: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Earlier this week I visited their London offices - and found out ... Or if the information about us isn't held securely enough and someone gets to pry into your life? (Google have a better record at protecting information than our government - but as the old saying goes, the only totally secure computer is one switched off and locked away with all its cables pulled out). Or if the two founders retire and the firm is driven by people with different outlooks on life? And so on.

2008-01-19 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - What do I get up to in Parliament?: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: It's a while since I've mentioned www.hearfromyourmp.com - one of the excellent services run by Tom Steinberg and co from www.mysociety.org. Its basic idea is to make it much easier for members of the public to find out what their MP has been doing - so whether you are a constituent of mine or not, I do encourage you to sign up in order to, as it says on the tin, hear from your MP at www.hearfromyourmp.com. One of the other sites that team runs is www.theyworkforyou.com - a now near essential way of getting information on what's been going on in Parliament (and in many ways better than Parliament's own site). One thing to mention in particular - you can sign up to be emailed with details of when I speak in Parliament, ask a question etc.

2008-01-19 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Ministry of Defence loses more than one laptop a week: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: News that the Ministry of Defence lost a laptop containing personal details of over 600,000 people, including national insurance numbers and bank details, has brought back to mind (thanks to a SpyBlog posting) a Parliamentary question I asked back in 2005 ... So - that makes 665 laptops lost or stolen in 1995-2005, or more than one a week on average. I wonder quite what Adam Ingram (the minister who answered the question) really meant by that last sentence - because surely one thing to mitigate the impact when losses occur is not to have personal details of 600,000 people on a laptop in the first place?

2008-01-06 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Identity cards: another good reason to oppose them: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Today's news that the Government lost a record number of pieces of personal data in 2007 is another good reason to oppose their plans for identity cards. There are many problems with Labour's scheme (such as the huge cost - the money would be far better spent on other ways of fighting crime which we know would work, unlike a huge new IT project - which may well fail!) - but one of them is the risk to our own privacy and safety from the identity database the scheme requires. It will hold tens of millions of records of personal information - just the sort of thing that people who want to swindle us, pry on us or otherwise misbehave can exploit. And on last year's form - we really can't expect the Government to keep this data safe! And that would apply to other Governments too - putting all that sensitive and valuable data into one place is just too risky.

2007-11-26 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - How the DNA database threatens innocent people: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: I've written before about the dangers in the government's rather cavalier attitude to innocent people's DNA records - and today's news from the Telegraph is a salutary warning that these are not just theoretical problems

2007-11-23 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Why this week has brought good news for your personal data: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Well - having been banging the drum for a long time that one of the problems with Labour's national mandatory ID cards scheme is the risk of all that personal data being abused, misused or mislaid - I think you can guess my views this week! But good to see - as Liberal Democrat Voice reports - that the latest polls now show a decisive majority against ID cards. So - if all the problems of people's personal data being lost by the government has helped to highlight some of the problems with ID cards, perhaps some good will come from it all after all.

2007-11-06 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Wikipedia and its limitations: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia which anyone can edit or contribute to - dominates much of the provision of information on the internet. ...

2007-09-30 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - The perils of blogging: the Alisher Usmanov affair: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: If you don't know - he is an Uzbek billionaire (and then some) and owns a large chunk of Arsenal football club. Craig Murray - former British ambassador to Uzbekistan - made various allegations about him in his book. No libel writ. But he then repeated them on his website. Result? Threatening legal letters to the firm hosting his website. Firm then decided to pull the computer on which his website was hosted - removing from the internet both Craig Murray's site, but also a host of other sites from people who had never even mentioned Alisher Usmanov. Also caught in this was Tim Ireland (of Bloggerheads website, and who had also mentioned the allegations) - his site was pulled by the firm too. I've not actually read Murray's book or blog - so I don't know whether the allegations are true or not - but that's not the point. There are two free speech problems here. First - I'm all for people who publish things online being held accountable for what they say - but people who publish online should also have reasonable protection. It is possible to get an injunction against a book, newspaper etc before going ahead with a full action for libel - but there are hurdles you have to meet and in the end you have to make your case in court and win if you want to stop the allegations being distributed. That's not what has happened here as far as I can see - instead it was a case of threatening legal letters and - bing! - the site went. Second - those innocent sites caught in the crossfire - including Tory MP and London Mayor wannabe Boris Johnson and Labour councillor Bob Piper. These and others do seem to be back online - but they shouldn't have gone in the first place. ...

2007-09-22 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Are your DNA records safe with the government?: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Reading through last week's newspaper articles - at last - I find that finally the cavalry is joining my campaign to stop innocent people's DNA being stored in perpetuity by the police on the national DNA database - and even The Sun has given the story a decent write-up. Hurrah! And if you're wondering - "but what does an innocent person have to fear?" - then the answer is "plenty!" as I wrote in an article titled What do the innocent have to fear from a DNA database? on my website.

2007-09-06 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA isn't the Holy Grail of crime fighting: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: So a high profile judge has come out and said that the whole country should be on the DNA database (and visitors to our country). Well - it's more logical than the serendipity we have at the moment where if the police arrest you, regardless of innocence or guilt - your DNA is taken and kept on record. However, it's nuts. Outside of the rights and wrongs of civil liberties and the onset of a police state - the practicalities should see that idea murdered at birth. Only last week I blogged about the answer to my parliamentary question on the accuracy of the current 4,000,000 strong DNA database - to receive a reply admitting that something like 500,000 of the entries are inaccurate - with wrong name or wrong address. Why oh why oh why are the government (and judges) so keen on spending zillions keeping track of the innocent rather than tracking down the criminal? Guys - spend the money on police - and on helping to prevent crime through education and youth services. Yes - DNA is a fantastic detection tool and provides the corroborating evidence required for a conviction. But DNA isn't the Holy Grail - and the more everyone holds it up as such - the less likely we are to have the proper professionalism applied to detecting crime. Eggs and one basket are the words that come to mind.

2007-08-30 - The Independent - DNA database chaos with 500,000 false or misspelt entries: Author: Marie Woolf; Summary: Over 500,000 names on the DNA database are false, misspelt or incorrect, the Government has admitted. Ministers have disclosed that one in seven of the genetic profiles on the controversial database is a "replicate", raising alarming questions about the integrity and accuracy of the entire system. ... Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, called for an urgent investigation and questioned why so much inaccurate information was on the system. "If the database is to be of any use, then it has to be accurate. DNA data is open to abuse and this could allow people who mean no good to do no good. The more failsafe the police regard DNA, the easier it is to set someone up," she said.

2007-08-06 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - More on closing YouTube, or not: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: There's a good piece in today's Times about whether or not YouTube should be closed.

2007-08-04 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Should YouTube be closed?: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: I’ve been following the media coverage about the call from the Professional Association of Teachers for sites like YouTube to be closed – because they say they encourage bullying and harassment of teachers. Both of these are extremely serious issues – but the idea that closing YouTube is the answer causes me two concerns: (a) is it really a solution? and (b) is a complete closing of YouTube an over-the-top reaction (even to horrific individual cases)? ... So – if you’re a teacher and agree with what the union said, you’d better get in touch to persuade me to change my mind!

2007-06-12 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Extending freedom of information: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: I am sponsoring my Lib Dem colleague Tom Brake's 10 Minute Rule Bill today which extends the Freedom of Information Act to stop ministers having the final say and putting that say instead in the hands of the Information Commissioner and Tribunal. It also brings in laws about delay - as prevarication is often the game and non-supply - let alone timely supply. It would also brings private contractors who do public sector contract work into the remit of freedom of information legislation. So - a good thing to be sponsoring!

2007-06-03 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - ID cards - good news: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: No they haven't gone away - although the Government was forced into delays etc. But the worm is turning. As predicted - and as happened in Australia and Canada – initial high levels of public support for ID cards are falling away as people became more aware and knowledgeable about the realities of identity cards (and their huge cost - let alone database dangers).

2007-05-07 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA and discrimination: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: ... I try and persuade Tim to do a show on DNA. I have been championing a number of issues around DNA for some years - and the Independent on Sunday runs a story using a quote from me and the answer I got to a Parliamentary Question on what percentage of innocent DNA comes from black and ethnic minorities. It's about 24% nationwide - but the figure that no one is picking up on yet - is that in London this kicks up to 57% of innocent DNA is coming from non-whites. It's huge – way, way above their actual representation in the population as a whole.

2006-12-18 - Asian Voice - Don't target the innocent: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: There is, so some people claim, a tension or even contradiction between fighting terrorism and protecting our civil liberties. ... And stripping away our freedoms, with ID cards and DNA databases, means pouring resources into keeping track of innocent people rather than tackling terrorists. ...

2006-12-18 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Father Christmas called on me early this week: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Promoting to the shadow cabinet as International Development spokeswoman.

2006-12-04 - The House Magazine - A fingerprint too far: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: There are now around 140,000 people on the National DNA database who have never been charged or cautioned with a criminal offence, including nearly 25,000 children. Moreover, nearly a quarter of the people in the National DNA database are from BME communities – although they make up under one in ten of the population as a whole. In other words, for example, an innocent black man is far more likely to have their DNA stored in the national database than an innocent white man. Having a national crime-fighting database that singles out innocent members of ethnic minorities in this way raises a whole host of problems, including equity, reducing the confidence of people in the fairness of the police and their work and the risk of further discrimination up the line if the records are ever misused - and remember how often in the past big databases have gone wrong, had their security compromised or been misused. ... A person who wrongly arrested and is not charged or cautioned should be able to choose whether their DNA can be retained.

2006-11-07 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA consultation - chance to have a say: Author: Lynne Featherstone MP; Summary: Nuffield Bioethics are running a consultation on use of DNA records etc. It's not an official government consultation, but one well worth taking part in anyway I think. See Nuffield Bioethics website

2006-10-11 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA records: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Went to New Scotland Yard to meet with Gary Pugh (in charge of forensics) about DNA. DNA is taken from people who are arrested, some of whom are then found innocent. Now here’s the thing – if you look at the DNA taken from innocent people, a far higher proportion of it comes from members of the ethnic minorities than their overall proportion in the population. And remember we’re talking about people found innocent here - so it looks as if there’s something very troubling going on.

2006-09-07 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Identity cards: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Following my speech about ID cards at the Government Smart Forum, I've now put up the text of it on my website.

2006-08-03 - BBC - ID cards 'in Labour's manifesto': Summary: Lib Dem home affairs spokeswoman, Lynne Featherstone, said: "The prime minister seems determined to push ahead with identity cards despite the growing body of opinion warning against their implementation... identity cards will cost a fortune and won't stop terrorism or fraud."

2006-08-02 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Have been working with Nick Clegg to do some campaigning to follow up on the DNA database issues I've mentioned before. We've now got a petition people can sign, along with its own DNA petition website.

2006-07-29 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - ID cards - good news: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: No they haven't gone away - although the Government was forced into delays etc. But the worm is turning. As predicted - and as happened in Australia and Canada – initial high levels of public support for ID cards are falling away as people became more aware and knowledgeable about the realities of identity cards (and their huge cost - let alone database dangers). A new poll from ICM has a majority against ID cards for the first time (and I love the Home Office spokesperson's excuse given in the story!). You can still help the campaign - visit www.libdems.org.uk/noidcards

2006-07-17 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Home Office questions: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... The new Minister for ID cards, Joan Ryan, has a very hard time defending the indefensible and Nick has some dynamite statistics. 88 million American identities have been stolen. A single master database such as is envisaged for the ID scheme will provide a great big honey pot for criminals to steal from. ...

2006-07-16 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA records: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... A private firm has been secretly keeping the DNA details of thousands of people. I predict that DNA issues will run and run and that all the assurances about the integrity of the database are not worth the paper they aren't written on! The Government says the DNA database and DNA details are tightly controlled - the truth is rather different. ...

2006-07-16 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Amnesty International's campaign against censorship: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: A friend pointing me in the direction of http://irrepressible.info – Amnesty International's new campaign against attack on people’s freedom of speech on the internet....

2006-07-16 - The Observer - Police DNA database 'is spiralling out of control': Author: Antony Barnett; Summary: Secret emails show private firms store genetic data from innocent victims. Lynne Featherstone, the home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said: 'This might be more cock-up than conspiracy, but the Home Office must investigate whether DNA taken from thousands of innocent people has not been abused.' She also expressed concern that the Home Office is allowing the database to be used for research that aims to try to build a 'genetic Photofit' from DNA samples found at a crime scene. She said: 'Anything that links black and ethnic genetic groups to criminality is potentially dangerous. How long before scientists start looking for a criminal gene?'

2006-06-29 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Two more bites of Big Brother: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Another Statutory Instrument - but this time in committee and about extra powers being given to a variety of agencies with regard to intercept and communications data, and also about powers for covert surveillance and so on. Too complicated to relate now – but together the two do rather sum up what politics – and Labour’s approach – is heavily about at the moment.

2006-06-24 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - ID cards: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Got my new passport this morning! If you remember - I applied for a new one before my old one was due for renewal as a protest against the Government's plans to introduce ID cards. You may or may not know that if you apply for a new passport in future, you will automatically have to have biometric information taken and be put on the National Identity Register (the new big brother database). And this is the first step to the ID card that goes with it. But if you renew your passport now, you can put off those steps for a decade – by which time they’ll have been an election or two, and – with a bit of luck! – the plans will have been stopped. ...

2006-06-08 - The Register - Home Office defends sharing DNA database: Author: Chris Williams; Summary: The Home Office is under fire for allowing foreign agencies access to the National DNA Database (NDNAD). Following the news two weeks ago that the ID card database will be shared, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone asked in parliament whether foreign law enforcement can already access DNA data. Home Office minister Joan Ryan confirmed that since 2004 they had received 519 requests for UK DNA data from abroad. No records are available from before that time, she added. Featherstone said yesterday: "What confidence can we have in the Government's reassurance of the DNA database having proper safeguards when, until last year, they didn't even collate requests properly?"

2006-06-07 - BBC - DNA database is shared overseas: Summary: Lib Dem home affairs spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone, who obtained the figures, said they were a "bad omen" for the identity card register. "There are no real safeguards in place to control this huge database which leaves it open for misuse - and now we find out it's not only being misused in our country but also internationally," she said. "What confidence can we have in the government's reassurance of the DNA database having proper safeguards when, until last year, they didn't even collate requests properly?"

2006-05-25 - BBC - Home Office questions ID protest: Summary: Five Liberal Democrat MPs staged a photocall at the Passport Office in Victoria, London, on Wednesday to highlight their argument. Home affairs spokesmen Nick Clegg, Lynne Featherstone and Mark Hunter were joined by party president Simon Hughes and rural affairs spokesman Roger Williams. Mr Clegg, whose own passport is not due for renewal until October 2012, said: "ID cards will be expensive, intrusive and ineffective. "I urge everyone who is concerned about their introduction to join the NO2ID 'Renew for Freedom' campaign and renew their passport over the coming weeks.

2006-05-24 - BBC - Lib Dems launch ID card protest: Summary: The Liberal Democrats are urging people to renew their passports to avoid being entered on the National Identity Database for the next 10 years. Lib Dem home affairs spokesmen Mr Clegg, Lynne Featherstone and Mark Hunter were joined at the Passport Office by party president Simon Hughes and rural affairs spokesman Roger Williams.

2006-05-24 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - ID cards: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: .... Nick Clegg, myself , Roger Williams and Mark Hunter (the Home Affairs Front Bench Team) joined by Simon Hughes, party president, go to the Passport Office to hand in our old passports and apply for new ones. This is to illustrate our protest at the Government forcing all of us to go onto the National ID database at the point at which we get a new passport. It doesn't start for a while - but is against their manifesto pledge that the ID card / database would be voluntary. They’ve broken that promise (surprise, surprise) - by linking it to renewing passports are basically making it mandatory. But if you renew your passport before these rules come in – you can put off joining the register for 10 years. But which time who know who will have won an election and maybe scrapped the whole scheme. ...

2006-05-17 - The Guardian - Lynne Featherstone: Summary: Lynne Featherstone biography

2006-05-07 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA and discrimination: Summary: ... I try and persuade Tim to do a show on DNA. I have been championing a number of issues around DNA for some years - and the Independent on Sunday runs a story using a quote from me and the answer I got to a Parliamentary Question on what percentage of innocent DNA comes from black and ethnic minorities. It's about 24% nationwide - but the figure that no one is picking up on yet - is that in London this kicks up to 57% of innocent DNA is coming from non-whites. It's huge – way, way above their actual representation in the population as a whole.

2006-04-22 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - DNA records: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... I remember that I have to do a live radio show. Luckily, I remembered with a half hour to spare. This was for a station in the Midlands and on the revelation through my Parliamentary Question that 24% of citizens who have a DNA profile on the national DNA database (NDNAD) are from ethnic minority communities. This compares with 8% black and ethnic minority members in the general population. ...

2006-04-14 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Joyce Vincent: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... Meanwhile, the answer to my Parliamentary Question on the ethnic breakdown of those people who have been arrested but not charged or cautioned – i.e. were innocent - has come back showing that 24% are from ethnic minorities. The black and Asian population of the UK as a whole is less than 8%. (The figures are based on the make-up of the DNA samples in the national DNA database as these arrests are the basic source of DNA in the database). ...

2006-03-29 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Should estate agents share offices?: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Anyway - finish and run back to parliament for the last ID card debate as it comes back from the Lords once more. This time the new amendment by the Tories suggests that up until December 2009 you will be able to opt out of having an ID card when you get your new passport. Labour in the Lords have agreed - and now if this passes in the Commons - the Tories having completely caved in, flip-flopped, whatever you want to call their disgraceful u-turn yet again on ID cards - that will be that. And this is a dreadful amendment - no wonder Labour agreed. All it does is mean that when you get a new passport - until December 2009 - you will be able to opt out of the ID card. But you won’t be able to opt-out of the National Database Register - and that is where the real sinister part is; the card is nothing compared to the register. ...

2006-03-28 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Clause 35 and computer hacking: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... the highlight of the day was that little Clause 35 on computer hacking. Subsequent to my amendment which was intended to have saved innocent IT people being done for hacking - when they were simply (for example) helping people remotely or checking the security and safety of their own systems, the Government realised their error and had put forward an amendment of their own. ...

2006-03-23 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Clause 35 - common sense on hacking: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... But a small victory. Clause 35 is about computer hacking. The way it was written, it would mean that IT companies couldn’t carry out their own hacking tests on their own computers, because that would be hacking. And other such silly things! (More details on The Register). We’d tabled an amendment to deal with this. I now notice that we have a new Government amendment which does the same thing. Imitation is the best form of flattery!

2006-03-13 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Promotion: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: ... The argument now is over the Government's ridiculous assertion that the requirement to have a passport (with which you have to have an identity card) is voluntary. I should take Charles Clarke to a border and make him cross it without a passport. ...

2006-03-12 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Shami Chakrabarti: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Big annual social at my house. There is a huge turnout because our guest speaker is Shami Chakrabarti from Liberty. She is a complete star - comes early - stays late and entirely captivates the audience who are natural territory for Liberty. ...

2006-03-07 - BBC - Tougher hacking laws get support: Summary: Both the Tories and Lib Dems have backed government measures to increase penalties for UK computer hackers. For the Liberal Democrats, Lynne Featherstone also said there was support for measures on computer hacking, while dismissing the bill as a whole as pernicious.

2006-03-07 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Police and Justice Bill: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Monday was the second reading of the Police and Justice Bill on which I am leading. The Bill is one of those typical Labour efforts which has a number of sensible proposals combined with some hideous ones. And as ever - the overall trend is to centralise power over the police and police authorities directly into the hands of Charles Clark as Home Secretary. Bet they'd never have supported a Bill that put direct intervention in how the police did their work straight into the hands of Michael Howard!

2006-03-07 - The Times - Election fraud fears as voting registers vanish: Author: Dominic Kennedy; Summary: Official documents that can provide protection against voting fraud have vanished from dozens of constituencies around the country, the Government has admitted. In a serious breach of election security, 42 public registers showing who voted in the general election last year are wholly or partly missing, the Department for Constitutional Affairs has confirmed. ... Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat MP whose Commons questions have highlighted the problem, adopted the withering tones of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell. “To lose one database, Ms Harman, [Minister in the Department for Constitutional Affairs] may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose 42 looks like carelessness,” she said.

2006-02-04 - Lynne Featherstone's Website - How to lobby an MP (not): Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: And what would really impress me? What would make lobbying an MP really effective? Here's one thought: quoting my own words back at me. With my website, blog and thousands of leaflets, there are plenty of public words of mine to pick up on. And if you don't have any leaflets, there are several libraries that keep good leaflet collections

2006-02-28 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Protecting personal data: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Main event today after surgery is the European Committee on exchange of data between law enforcement agencies in the EU. What this is about is letting any country in the EU access the information on databases in any other country in the pursuit of crime. Whilst in principle this sounds a great way to catch criminals, the reality is - we can't even make our own databases secure - let alone open them up to other countries. Huge problems can follow from widespread access to insecure data. Let's get our own house in order first. ...

2006-02-16 - BBC - Under-18s DNA records to continue: Summary: Lib Dem spokesman Lynne Featherstone said the guidance given to police chiefs on removing DNA from the database did not go far enough. "We need to know if the government is creating a database of everyone in the country by stealth or if the database will only be used to store the profiles of criminals," she said.

2006-02-13 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Kissing the wrong man: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: Then I went back into the chamber for the beginning of the ID card debate where I am on the front bench with Alistair Carmichael - our Shadow Home Secretary. ... we failed to defeat the government on ID cards. I'm truly sorry - as I believe the scheme is flawed and dangerous and moves us ever nearer to a police state - but without the promised 'benefits' of the card. The idea that a database of this size and complexity won't go wrong is naïve in the extreme. In the end I suspect the costs will mean it becomes untenable. The only danger, as pointed out by one MP, is that if they have already invested billions - even if useless and unworkable - there will be a momentum to continue because of the money down the drain to date. ...

2006-01-23 - Lynne Featherstone's Blog - Local school success: Author: Lynne Featherstone; Summary: In fact DNA is in the news for all sorts of reasons at the moment. I have had a bee in my bonnet about it for some time and my various Parliamentary Questions (written) have elicited some startling statistics including the disproportionate amount of DNA taken from black men and the fact that the DNA of around 134,000 innocent people who were never charged or cautioned is now on the record books. ...

2006-01-04 - BBC - DNA database continues to swell: Summary: "There is no purpose or justification for keeping the DNA record of anyone who is not charged with an offence." "We cannot be absolutely certain that there will be no misuse of the DNA database." "With the growing concern about racial profiling and disproportionality in criminal investigations, the need to keep innocent people on the DNA database is questionable." "This is an intolerable infringement of liberty and personal privacy" Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Lynne Featherstone

2005-11-08 - The Guardian - Policing and race: Summary: The Home Office denied black men were being unfairly targeted by the police, despite figures showing they were four times more likely to be on the national DNA database. For the Liberal Democrats, Lynne Featherstone said research had shown genetic details of 32% of black males were held, compared with 8% of their white equivalents. "There is a real and growing concern around racial profiling and disproportionality in criminal investigations."

2005-07-06 - BBC - Internet given election verdict: Summary: Prof Coleman said the 2001 election had seen the emergence of blogs and other discussion outside traditional scripted politics. If the political machines tried to grasp those tools too much there was a risk the public might "migrate elsewhere", he warned. New Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone, a long-time blogger, said online campaigning was just one of the tools she used. But she suggested it had played a substantial part in overturning a 26,000 Labour majority in Hornsey and Wood Green over the course of two elections.

2005-06-27 - BBC - Meet the MP: Lynne Featherstone: Summary: Interview with Lynne Featherstone

2005-05-06 - BBC - London: Tory gains hit Labour: Author: Khevyn Limbajee; Summary: Labour's Barbara Roche was ousted from the north London constituency of Hornsey and Wood Green after a huge 14.5% swing to Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone.

Lynne Featherstone MP

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