HC Deb 11 July 1986 vol 101 cc287-8W
Mr. Cohen

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many warrants he has issued under the Interception of Communications Act in each year since 1979.

Mr. Renton

The Interception of Communications Act 1985 came into force on 10 April 1986. Statistics on interception warrants issued from 1979 to 1984 are given in the White Papers "The Interception of Communications in Great Britain" (Cmnd. 7873) and "The Interception of Communications in the United Kingdom" (Cmnd. 9438). In accordance with the policy followed by successive Governments, I do not intend to add to these statistics.