Is cross-party agreement on surveillance legislation a good thing?

So all three party leaders agree that it’s worth rushing through emergency surveillance legislation. While David Cameron and Nick Clegg were holding their rare joint press conference, Ed Miliband released a joint letter with Yvette Cooper in which he said ‘we have been guided by our firm conviction that it is essential to maintain the security of our citizens and also ensure people’s privacy is protected’.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister both needed to make the case for the emergency legislation today but Nick Clegg also needed to make the case for his support for it, given he had rejected the full Communications Data Bill. He supports the Data Retention and Investigation Powers Bill (which helpfully abbreviates to DRIP) because it has ‘nothing to do with the so-called Snooper’s Charter’ and he feels this emergency legislation will lead to a proper debate about surveillance in this country.