The Liberal Democrats have said directors of blue chip should be sent to jail if their companies have been found to have broken the law and spied on political opponents. Former cabinet minister Ed Davey says that If the companies are found not to have acted legally, as seems likely, the law should be strengthened.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Ed Davey said:

“These findings are deeply disturbing in a supposedly free society. There needs to be a police investigation and if this leads to prosecutions and any directors are found guilty, they should be put in prison. If, as seems likely, it turns out they turned out have acted immorally but not illegally, we need new laws and the government should legislate.

“Companies are naturally free to hire private security firms to bolster their defences against crime, but to pro-actively target political campaigners is outrageous. These are people doing absolutely nothing wrong and are making legitimate claims or arguments against companies, often on behalf of our broader society, such as over a company’s environmental record.

“Worse still, this abuse seems so wide-scale it is systematic. I think the likely conclusion is that we will need government to put forward legislation to regulate what is currently a shady market and ensure that companies play by the rules and don’t trample on innocent people’s civil liberties.”