Cassetteboy vs the Snoopers' Charter: Hilarious video mash-up lampoons UK surveillance

In their latest musical mash-up video, the duo behind the popular electronic group Cassetteboy have teamed up with Privacy International to focus attention on Home Secretary Theresa May and the UK Investigatory Powers Bill – also known as the Snoopers' Charter.

Responsible for taking real-life speeches and morphing them into a music-based satire, in the past Cassetteboy has lampooned everyone from Prime Minister David Cameron to former US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

"There's a lot to dislike about the Investigatory Powers Bill," the group said on their Facebook page alongside the video – which has since went viral on social media by racking up over 500,000 views on Facebook alone.

"It won't make us any safer," the statement added. "The security services and police don't have the resources to follow up every lead they find under the current system. Looking for terrorist communications is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This Bill merely makes the haystack much bigger. And even if you trust the current government to wield these powers fairly and responsibly, what about the governments of the future? God help us if we end up electing our own version of Donald Trump and we've given him these powers."

As a collective, Cassetteboy often takes on political targets in its videos. One of the most popular mash-ups was a takedown of former British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin following his appearance on BBC Question Time back in 2009. Others targets include popular TV show The Appentice and London mayor Boris Johnson.

In a 2013 interview, the English duo behind Cassetteboy – Mike Bolton and Steve Warlin – said they are not afraid to parody anyone in the public eye. "As long as you get the angle right you can make a joke about anything," said Bolton. "The weak and the powerless are not good for satire, we want to be poking fun at the powerful people in society. The people who are forcing themselves on us, ever-present celebrities and politicians, are usually the best targets."

The UK Snoopers' Charter is a surveillance bill currently passing through UK Parliament that aims to bolster the spying powers available to police, government and intelligence agencies. Upon analysis, the controversial bill was slammed by three separate committees for a lack of clarity however is expected to pass into law by the end of the year.