HL Deb 19 March 1979 vol 399 cc860-1

2.37 p.m.

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the tapping of telephones by the police can still be carried out in England and Scotland only where a warrant authorising a particular case has been signed by the Home Secretary or the Secretary of State for Scotland.

The MINISTER of STATE, HOME OFFICE (Lord Boston of Faversham)

My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that it remains the case today, as it was when the Birkett Committee reported in 1957, that the interception of communications is carried out only on the authority of the Secretary of State, given effect in each case by a warrant signed personally by the Secretary of State. That is normally the Home Secretary or, in Scotland (as the noble Lord will recall), the Secretary of State for Scotland; but if for any reason they are not available, a warrant may exceptionally be signed by another Secretary of State.

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply, which will reassure members of the public that there has been no relaxation of the system requiring ministerial authority. But can the noble Lord confirm that the Post Office, as distinct from the police, are also subject to such arrangements and cannot make recordings of private conversations without similar authorisation?

Lord BOSTON of FAVERSHAM

My Lords, I am very much obliged to the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, as indeed I am sure the whole House will be, for his preambular remarks. In reply to his supplementary question, I can say, quite firmly, yes. The Post Office will record telephone conversations only on the authority of the Secretary of State. Anyone in the Post Office who recorded a telephone conversation otherwise than under that authority would be committing a criminal offence. I am not, of course, speaking of cases where a subscriber himself has formally requested that the Post Office should record conversations on his own telephone because, for example, he may be receiving a series of threatening or obscene calls. That has nothing to do with the arrangements about which the noble Lord is asking.