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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

express.co.uk

41–50 of 55 posts

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I emphasise, do not rant - my partner worked in an MPs office answering the mail, you don't want to fall into that category, which is still read and responded to, but which is almost never actioned/considered seriously/even read (by the MP themselves) in any way. bad signs - all caps, more than a page long, written on a typewriter, hand written in illegible writing, etc.

Wait, why is "written on a typewriter" a bad sign? There seems nothing particularly suspicious about handwriting either, though as a practical matter, legibility might be a problem...

Well, there's a story behind this one.

I once wrote to David Milliband (when he was foreign secretary) on the urging of Amnesty International about the upcoming international vote on the banning of cluster bombs.

I wrote it on a 1920s typewriter, sealed it with wax etc, as befitting a letter to one of the holders of the four highest offices, and never got a reply (although they did succeed in banning the use of cluster munitions - good!)

Later, when my partner was working for an MP, I mentioned the letter to her - and she laughed at me and said it would have been "one of those letters," because of the presentation - and that that's why I wouldn't have got a reply etc. ( I also made the mistake of writing directly to Milliband himself, and not to my MP asking him to pass it on, which is another reason I may not have got a reply.)

I fear this story makes me out to be all three of hipster, lefty and (worst of all) impressed-by-authority, so I predict all the downvotes in this forum, but it explains my earlier comment, so it's probably worth it for completeness.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, why is "written on a typewriter" a bad sign? There seems nothing particularly suspicious about handwriting either, though as a practical matter, legibility might be a problem...

Well, there's a story behind this one. I once wrote to David Milliband (when he was foreign secretary) on the urging of Amnesty International about the upcoming international vote on the banning of cluster bombs. I wrote it on a 1920s typewriter, sealed it with wax etc, as befitting a letter to one of the holders of the four highest offices, and never got a reply (although they did succeed in banning the use of clust…

> she laughed at me and said it would have been "one of those letters," because of the presentation

But did she mention why they think that way? On the face of it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense...

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#43
When the 'Hong Kong Baffled by Snowden's Hideout' WSJ article was posted (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5853397), one paragraph that leaped out at me and also got some attention in the comments was the following:

"Hong Kong is the worst place in the world for any person to avoid extradition, with the possible exception of the United Kingdom," said one lawyer who’s worked on a dozen extradition cases both in the U.K. and Hong Kong"

I don't know what to make of that or how to put it together with this Home Office alert, but it is all rather interesting.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, why is "written on a typewriter" a bad sign? There seems nothing particularly suspicious about handwriting either, though as a practical matter, legibility might be a problem...

Well, there's a story behind this one. I once wrote to David Milliband (when he was foreign secretary) on the urging of Amnesty International about the upcoming international vote on the banning of cluster bombs. I wrote it on a 1920s typewriter, sealed it with wax etc, as befitting a letter to one of the holders of the four highest offices, and never got a reply (although they did succeed in banning the use of clust…

Because eccentric presentation implies eccentric ideas, I think. They certainly do get a lot of letters from a lot of very vocal, very extreme people (who want homosexuality banned, hanging brought back, etc.)

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#45

Erm. How exactly is he detrimental to the public good?

They probably mean detrimental to the governments good. They wouldn't want to say no to US requests but they would been seen as the bad guys while the extradition (and/or asylum) proceedings dragged on for months. They are also trying to pass legislation (Communications Data Bill) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22891845 to allow[1] communications logging of metadata. Having him in the country would make it eve…

They are doing it now with legal standing. (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000)

Specifically chapter 2: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/part/I/chapter/I...

The new legislation is updating the definition of Communications Data for the age of application specific messaging.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I emphasise, do not rant - my partner worked in an MPs office answering the mail, you don't want to fall into that category, which is still read and responded to, but which is almost never actioned/considered seriously/even read (by the MP themselves) in any way. bad signs - all caps, more than a page long, written on a typewriter, hand written in illegible writing, etc.

Wait, why is "written on a typewriter" a bad sign? There seems nothing particularly suspicious about handwriting either, though as a practical matter, legibility might be a problem...

I have a friend who at one point had to wade through letters to a state legislator. The staff have to sludge through these letters every day, and they end up categorizing quickly. They correlate things like typewritten letters or weird things to the crazy stuff that they get.

Keep in mind, representatives are public people, and they get wacky things. Marriage proposals, insane ramblings, dog droppings, manifestos, abusive letters, frequent fliers who write multiple letters per day, etc.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#47
post #2

As a UK citizen I feel that he certainly hasn't done me any harm and probably has done quite a lot of good so I find it bizarre that the government would make such a statement, especially as he would be mad to consider coming here! I presume the real reasons for this are: - To show solidarity with the US (presumably the NSA and GCHQ are as thick as thieves) - So he doesn't give anyone at GCHQ ideas I'm going to write…

Why is it bizarre ? The UK government simply doesn't want a repeat of the diplomatic mess that was Julian Assange's asylum claim.

Speaking as European (non-UK), I do find this bizarre because it makes the UK look weak. It loses face.

You would expect the UK to have enough going for it that it can stand up to the USA, yet here they seem to be so scared of some diplomatic conflict with the US that they preemptively ban someone who is not at all a criminal (under UK/EU law). It's not something you would expect a proud nation to do.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it bizarre ? The UK government simply doesn't want a repeat of the diplomatic mess that was Julian Assange's asylum claim.

Speaking as European (non-UK), I do find this bizarre because it makes the UK look weak. It loses face. You would expect the UK to have enough going for it that it can stand up to the USA, yet here they seem to be so scared of some diplomatic conflict with the US that they preemptively ban someone who is not at all a criminal (under UK/EU law). It's not something you would expect a proud nation to do.

When it comes to UK/US relations, that ship has long sailed.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#49
post #34
post #17

Related: "Senior politicians from across the political divide have united to call for UK security services to be given greater internet monitoring powers" [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22891845

And this is the point at which they no longer represent us but themselves.

The crazy thing is they're trying to claim Nick Clegg is shielding companies rather than the people.

I just can't understand the slightest bit why anyone thinks that snooping and storing everyone's data is a necessary thing to do. They don't even make the wild claim that it'll stop terrorist attacks, they want it to find out who people were talking to after the attacks.

Madness.

And to top it off, you can't easily find a copy of the letter because it's behind the Times' pay wall! Not a single story has a link to the actual letter.

Re: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden not welcome in the UK

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it bizarre ? The UK government simply doesn't want a repeat of the diplomatic mess that was Julian Assange's asylum claim.

I find it bizarre that they feel the need to make the statement - it's not like there is any chance he would be considering coming here.

It's signaling.
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