§ Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied with the working of the Official Secrets Act; how many complaints he has received on the matter in the last six months; and whether legislation amending the Act may be expected soon.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesThe Government accept that Section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 should be reformed and the Gracious Speech at the opening of the present Session gave an undertaking that legislative proposals to that end would be brought forward. In the last six months I have received some 50 representations about alleged inadequacies in this and other aspects of the official secrets legislation. We do not intend to introduce legislation until we have published a White Paper and had the benefit of comments on it.