§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the operation of polygraph lie detectors at Government communications headquarters.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe first phase of the polygraph pilot scheme undertaken following the recommendations of the Security Commission in its report on the case of Geoffrey Prime (Cmnd. 8876) has been completed. This included the examination of staff of the Security Service and of senior members of GCHQ.
It has been decided to commission some further independent research into the validity of the polygraph. No decision has yet been taken on the starting date for the 2nd phase of the pilot scheme, which would include the testing of a random sample of the staff of GCHQ.