Clause 19
Counter-Terrorism Bill
5:30 pm
Dominic Grieve (Shadow Attorney General, Law Officers; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
The first amendment is a probing amendment. Clause 19(1) says:
“A person may disclose information to any of the intelligence services for the purposes of the exercise by that service of any of its functions.”
Again, the Minister helpfully told the Committee about the definition of national security, which no Committee member would have any difficulty with. However, what functions of the security services fall outside the definition of national security that he gave us?
I want to make my position quite clear. I am not suddenly seeking to put a spanner in the works of an important change to the law that will provide reassurance to individuals in this area. However, the Committee should be able to understand why “any of its functions” would be covered by this blanket exemption from the workings of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.