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SPY PLANES TO PATROL SHEPWAY SKIES

Unmanned spy planes could soon be patrolling the skies of Shepway and Dover.

The plans that the EU is purchasing a fleet of spy planes that will be used to monitor its citizens were revealed this week by the Independent.

The spy plan program will be funded out of a £1.25billion surveillance equipment upgrade budget for the EU. The plan calls for small unmanned spy planes, weighing only about 430 pounds, which will hover over the English Channel as well as the Mediterranean coastlines searching for unusual activity. 

Russia is also planning on using spy planes to monitor its borders. Similar spy planes are already being used to monitor the North Sea by the Belgian government. The drones have been used to catch and prosecute tanker captains illegally dumping oil.

Although individual countries are using the spy planes and other surveillance technologies already, civil liberties groups are arguing that the EU plan is against the law because member states haven’t approved it. They are also concerned that the surveillance will violate the privacy of European citizens.