§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if Government Communications Headquarters staff at Menwith Hill station are required to obtain warrants signed by him before intercepting domestic and international phone calls made in or from the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Howard[holding answer 13 March 1995]: No. All interception of communications on public telecommunications systems in the United Kingdom is subject to the provisions of the Interception of Communications Act 1985, but ministerial responsibility for GCHQ is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.