HC Deb 13 July 1979 vol 970 c313W
Miss Richardson

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is the practice of the Metropolitan Police to collect, as a matter of routine, details of the organiser, chairman and speakers at political meetings; whether he endorses such a practice; if he will say on what basis he endorses it; if he will publish the form in which the information is collected by the police; if he will state what meetings are considered political; if he will indicate the use to which such information is put, where it is stored and who has access to it; and under what authority the information is collected.

Mr. Whitelaw

These are operational matters for the Commissioner. I fully support his collecting information necessary for discharging his responsibility for the maintenance of public order.