Home Office minister Charles Clarke has hit out at critics of the UK Government's RIP Bill by posting an open letter on the Home Office Web site. In his letter, the Minister refutes all allegations that the Bill is "an Orwellian nightmare of unfettered mass surveillance" and says the Government has struck the right balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of the security forces to do their job properly." He signs off by saying: "So does the Bill mean RIP for individual rights? No. I would encourage people to read what the Bill actually says - not what some commentators say it says." Well said, Minister. Here at The Register we too would recommend people read through the Bill and make their own minds up. But we also reckon that most people are going to find the Bill pretty impenetrable. The full text of the Minister's letter can be found here. The Bill has now progressed to the Select Committee stage. The Committee will sit on Tuesdays and Thursdays. At the first sitting of the Committee, earlier this week, MPs discussed the interception of Internet communications, who can have the authority to issue warrants and whether it is civilised to take breakfast before 9am. &ref; Register RIP coverage: What the hell is... the UK's RIP Bill Big Brother Bill faces Select Committee storm Opposition mounts against UK's Big Brother Bill UK gov't reveals Big Brother bill The Stand Web site