Senior Lib Dem threatens to block surveillance plans Tim Farron, president of the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrat president, Tim Farron, has said the party will "kill" proposals for increased monitoring of emails and internet use if they are not watered down. Farron said he was prepared to look at draft legislation when it is published, but he was "in no mood" to back authoritarian laws. He said many Lib Dems were horrified by the plans, which would allow the government listening post GCHQ to monitor details of internet traffic in real time. Farron said on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I am prepared to recognise that there is obviously a need in modern society with new technology to have a look at what needs to be given to the security services, but only if it is absolutely clear there is no universal access. But we are prepared to kill them, be absolutely clear about that, if it comes down to it. If we think this is a threat to a free and liberal society then there would be no question of unpicking them or compromising, this just simply must not happen. The government has faced a backlash over the plans, with senior Conservatives joining Lib Dems and civil rights campaigners in warning they would cause a gross intrusion into freedom and privacy. Farron said he would be surprised if the bill ended up looking "anything like the press reports we have had this week." He said: "My conversations with the deputy prime minister and others reveal that there has been significant movement this week. It is important to be reasonable and look at the draft legislation, as it now will be, and see what it says and look at it on its own merit. But I have to say I'm in no mood whatsoever to apologise for, or to amend or unpick authoritarian legislation. "It strikes me that a government that includes Liberal Democrats should ensure that Britain ends up a more liberal place, not less," he said. Nick Clegg said last week that the government was simply "updating the rules" to allow the police and security services "to go after terrorists and serious criminals" who were using the internet to communicate.