GCHQ

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 4:07 pm on 10 June 2013.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Nick Herbert Nick Herbert Conservative, Arundel and South Downs 4:07, 10 June 2013

Has not our national security relied for centuries on the effective intercept of communications? The Spanish armada was said to have been averted as much by the pen of Francis Walsingham as by the Royal Navy. Surely what has changed is the nature of those communications. The threat to the public comes not from the intelligence agencies, which have no interest at all in the communications of members of the public; but they will not be able to intercept communications if those data are not retained by providers.