§ Miss Fookesasked the Prime Minister if she will make available in the Library any scientific evidence proving the reliability of the polygraph—lie detector.
§ The Prime MinisterAs the Security Commission said in its Report of May 1983—Cmnd. 8876—there is no objective scientific criterion by which to determine whether a polygraph indication is right or wrong. It further commented that the literature abounds with claims and counter-claims regarding the "accuracy" of the polygraph, but this does not constitute scientific evidence proving "reliability". It would not therefore be appropriate to put such literature in the Library.