Following days of turmoil in the Tory party on European issues, Conservative MP James Wharton has topped the private members bill ballot. He has confirmed that this will be used to introduce legislation for an EU referendum by 2017. Now this is firmly in the parliamentary timetable no party can ignore the increasing calls for the public to have a say on our future in Europe.

Pirate Party UK spokesperson Andy Halsall said:

"Our position on an EU referendum has not changed. As we clearly say in our Manifesto, the British people must have a say on our membership of the European Union. The Pirate Party and our members believe firmly in self determination, there is no reason to fear the opinion of the British public."

This week it has been reported in the media that personal data collected by Everything Everywhere may have been offered for sale to the Metropolitan Police by research firm Ipsos Mori. The reporting suggested that information about subscribers gender, age and postcode, as well as the websites they had visited, the time of day text messages had been sent and the location of customers when making calls was available at a price.

Loz Kaye Pirate Party UK Leader said

"It's tempting to think that EE have taken their name Everything Everywhere too literally."

"Ipsos Mori seem to want to have it both ways. Given the well documented problems with anonymisation, while Ben Page's statements are welcome, they are not entirely reassuring. It's difficult to square these promises with Ipsos Mori's announcement to the markets back in April that the deal will give 'the ability to access ...

Today the Coalition Government set out its plans for the next parliamentary session in the Queen's Speech.

The speech was more notable for what was not in it. The Communications Data Bill or "Snoopers' Charter" was at least dropped in name. Missed opportunities included leaving out proposal for a register of lobbyists, and not acting on the promised power to recall MPs.

Pirate party Leader Loz Kaye said:

"This Government has clearly run out of steam and ideas. With flagging participation in our democracy, families and the economy under pressure we need a radical reforming agenda. Instead the coalition have given us UKIP-lite. The speech was full of vague promises, and fretting about red tape and foreigners. Does this government really want to turn landlords and doctors in to border police?"

"Far from burying the Snoopers' Charter the speech promises measures to enable the investigation of crime in 'cyberspace ...

A group of 100 leading cancer specialists have spoken out about high prices for cancer drugs. Some chronic myeloid leukaemia treatments approved in the US, but not licensed in the UK range between £76,000 and £100,000 per patient per year. The cost of the drug Gilvec has in fact risen since all the original research costs were covered.

In the journal Blood the physicians say that the unsustainable expense "may be causing harm to patients" and are advocating that reasonable prices are "a necessity to save the lives of patients who cannot afford them".

Pirate Party Leader Loz Kaye said:

"The extent of this profiteering is truly shocking. Companies hold the power of life and death over patients."

In what would be a humiliating climbdown for Theresa May cracks opened up again in the coalition on civil liberties. In a U-turn from his appearance in favour of the CDB on the BBC Today programme Nick Clegg announced "that is not necessarily workable or proportional so it's not going to happen".

The Communications Data Bill, better known as the ”Snoopers' Charter” has been widely criticised by the Pirate Party and other campaigners as being an unnecessary attack on the privacy of British citizens. It threatened to track communication by email, phone, web use, even gaming chat in blanket surveillance.

It still remains to be seen what will be announced in the Queen's Speech.

Pirate Party Leader Loz Kaye said:

”This proposal should never have come forward in the first place, it would turn us all from citizens in to suspects. I hope this is indeed the good ...

he long promised reform of libel law was significantly watered down in a House of Commons vote on the Defamation Bill last night.

The changes to the bill, introduced by the Conservatives and backed by their Liberal Democrat coalition partners, removed proposals that would have required companies to show financial damage before they could sue journalists, researchers or bloggers.

Pirate Party UK Justice Spokesperson Loz Kaye said:

"The Defamation Bill has been plagued with cynical attempts to derail and diffuse real positive change. The progress made is welcome but the failure to rebalance power away from companies to individuals may take the guts out of this measure. The watered down bill will not end the chilling effect that so threatens free speech in the UK."

Attempts to improve a law establishing secret courts failed in the Lords as amendments were voted down. The Justice and security bill will extend 'closed material procedures' (secret courts) in to the main civil courts in England and Wales. Secret courts have been opposed by civil society groups including Amnesty International and Reprieve amongst others.

Pirate Party justice spokesperson Loz Kaye said:

"This is very bad news for justice in the UK. Secret Courts undermine the right to know the evidence against you and set aside the principle that the working of courts should be transparent. Fundamental objections remain, such as questions over whether secret courts could be used where someone's liberty is at stake."

The proposed Royal Charter establishing a new press watchdog system has now been published. This follows the Leveson Inquiry in to the culture, practice and ethics of the press. Concerns have been raised about the Royal Charter's effect on the Internet and bloggers, and potential attempts to regulate reporting on the Internet.

Pirate Party Leader Loz Kaye said:

"I hope the result of the Leveson enquiry will indeed be better access to justice and redress for ordinary people against powerful media players. I suspect though, once the dust has settled it will be business as usual for the press, police and politicians alike.

Judgement was given today in the case of Jacqui Thompson, which followed what Twitter users have dubbed the #DaftArrest. The dispute started after Mrs Thompson was arrested for refusing to stop filming a council meeting in June 2011. She launched a legal challenge based on a letter responding to criticism of the council. However the High Court has dismissed this claim.

Carmarthenshire chief executive Mark James counter-sued and was awarded £25,000 of damages regarding three of her blog posts.

Pirate Party Justice Spokesperson Loz Kaye said:

"This judgement is very bad news for anyone who believes in holding government to account. It sends out the message that anyone thinking about criticising or even taking an interest should think again. We can not have a society where people are afraid to put up a blog post in case it costs them thousands of pounds.

The High Court has ordered the UK's largest ISPs to block yet more sites at the request of the music industry. Now Internet service providers must also prevent access to Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy.

Pirate Party Leader Loz Kaye said:

"The British music industry has nothing positive to show from their site blocks and personal legal threats. Looking at sales figures from 2012, you can't draw the conclusion that stopping access to the Pirate Bay did anything to help artists."