Carmichael joins protest against Chinese-linked surveillance companies in UK

Orkney and Shetland MP and Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael, has today joined protestors against the operation of surveillance companies linked to the Chinese state from operating in the UK. Mr Carmichael met with Big Brother Watch, which led the protest, while highlighting the links Hikvision and other companies operating in the UK have with mass human rights abuses in Xinjiang in China.

Speaking from the event Mr Carmichael said:

“I am glad to join Big Brother Watch and others in campaigning here today. The clear and close links required between surveillance firms like Hikvision and the Chinese state should give us all pause for thought.

“Many of these companies are directly linked to the mass persecution and genocide of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang – that they can freely operate in the UK is goes against both our commitment to human rights and our own national security.

“Hikvision cameras can be found the length and breadth of the country, including in the Northern Isles. The government needs to take this surveillance issue seriously and ban these companies outright.”