§ 39. Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Lord President of the Council if he will now move for the appointment of a pre-legislation Select Comittee to study the problems relating to intrusion into privacy of the individual.
§ Mr. CrossmanI will certainly note this suggestion.
§ Mr. LyonWill my right hon. Friend do a little more than "note"? It is now some months since it was reported in the Press that he was considering the proposal, but nothing has been done about the establishment of a pre-legislation Select Committee. This topic is one of increasing urgency as more and more evidence accumulates of intrusion into personal privacy.
§ Mr. CrossmanI very much hope that we shall have a specialist committee to study this subject, but I must tell my hon. Friend that, having carefully considered the manning, both by staff of the House and by back benchers, I came to the conclusion that, as of today, we have about the number of specialist committees we can take and digest. In my view, we shall have to postpone the appointment of a committee on this subject for this Session. I am very disappointed, because I agree that it is a very important subject.