§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what his policy is in respect of the sharing with the US Government of intercept material obtained by GCHQ; and in what circumstances it is deemed inappropriate to share such information for reasons of national security; [28629]
(2) if he will make a statement on the status and importance of the UK/USA Agreement 1948 [28628]
§ Mr. StrawIt has been the long-standing practice of this and previous Governments not to comment on the detail of confidential arrangements which might exist between the UK and the US for the UK's national security.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many extant US/UK agreements there are the existence of which has not been made public; and if he will make a statement. [28741]
§ Mr. StrawAll treaties between the UK and US are published and registered with the UN Secretary General. There are however numerous other forms of agreement between the UK and the US, where there is no obligation to publish. Many of these will be in the public domain. The information needed to compile a list of these is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.