§ Mr. Gerald Kaufman (Manchester, Gorton)I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 20, for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration, namely
Special branch activities in England and Scotland following the Attorney-General's request for the initiation of inquiries into possible breaches of the Official Secrets Act.This matter is specific because raids have taken place on the home of a journalist, Mr. Duncan Campbell, the offices of the periodical the New Statesman and the Glasgow headquarters of the BBC.It is important because the raids involved the use of sections 2 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act in a manner that many people believe has serious implications for the freedom of the press and freedom of speech.
The matter should have urgent consideration because there are profound misgivings about the future of civil liberties in our society and fears that Britain may be going down the road already travelled in such places as eastern Europe and South Africa [Interruption.] Those misgivings require, in what is still a free Parliament, to be aired in this House without delay.
§ Mr. SpeakerThe right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman) asks leave to move the Adjournment of the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that he thinks should have urgent consideration, namely
The activities of special branch in England and Scotland following the Attorney-General's request for the initiation of inquiries into possible breaches of the Official Secrets Act.I am satisfied that the matter that has been raised by the right hon. Gentleman is proper to be discussed under Standing Order No. 20. Has the right hon. Gentleman the leave of the House? The pleasure of the House having been signified, the motion stood over under Standing Order No. 20 (Adjournment on specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration), until the commencement of public business tomorrow.