Jim Killock, Executive Director, Open Rights Group has praised the news arguing that the overwhelming focus on Brexit had almost hidden the bill from view until it was too late.

Writing in a blog on the Huffington Post Killock says, “The media, MPs and public were almost entirely preoccupied with the vote and its aftermath when it mattered, in May and June.”

“In those two months, MPs had their major debates, and the campaign against the Bill threw everything we had at raising public consciousness, including a huge media campaign and awareness raising online, but without the kind of response we are seeing now.”

While the petition’s interest will now require the consideration of a Parliamentary debate MPs are under no obligation to actually go ahead with one.

Considering how recent the bill’s approval was and the number of votes that required it to pass there will almost certainly be some reluctance to bring it back into the public sphere.

Killock disagrees however arguing that Parliament, “Can and must do is look again at measures which constitute mass interference into people’s privacy. Parliament may be forced to re-legislate several of the measures in the Bill, as a consequence of legal actions that are soon to come back.”

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