“The problem is the use of this little-noticed schedule to the Terrorism Act, because what it does is to say that Britain’s ports and transit lounges in airports are an area of Britain where the normal rules don’t apply. I think that’s what has shocked the rest of the world,” said Rusbridger.
“If they were to arrest David Miranda in Heathrow car park they would have to use bits of the law which have checks and balances to protect journalistic material, among other things, but by doing it in a transit lounge they are operating in a kind of stateless way where they can interrogate someone for nine hours, seize whatever they want, under rules that are about terrorism. Once you start conflating terrorism and journalism, as a country I think you’re in some trouble.”
Rusbridger: destroying hard drives allowed us to continue NSA coverage
