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Prisons: Woodhill

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall repeat a Statement made in another place by my right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. The Statement is as follows: ““With permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a Statement. ““As the House will be aware, there appeared in yesterday’s Sunday Times allegations that conversations between my honourable friend for Tooting and a constituent of his, Mr Barbar Ahmed, detained in prison on an extradition warrant, had been subject to covert recording when my honourable friend visited Mr Ahmed on two occasions, in 2005 and 2006, at Her Majesty’s Prison Woodhill. ““I was made aware of the burden of these allegations on Saturday afternoon. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary and I discussed the matter and we agreed that an immediate inquiry should be established. In a statement to the Sunday Times issued on my behalf early on Saturday evening I announced this, and expressed my concerns about the allegations, if true. ““It may assist the House if I now give some detail of the differing ways in which the statutory authorisation regimes for intercept and for intrusive surveillance operate. ““Just before I do so, let me underline, from my experience as a Minister directly involved in these matters over many years, that no authorisations are granted unless by law they are necessary for the detection or prevention of crime, or the protection of national security, or for related matters, are proportionate, and that the information concerned cannot be obtained by other means. ““Any authorisation for the interception of telephone calls and other public telecommunications requires a warrant personally signed by the relevant Secretary of State—usually the Home Secretary in respect of the police, Security Service and other domestic law enforcement agencies; and the Foreign Secretary in respect of Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ. Such a Secretary of State warrant is also required for surveillance operations—including eavesdropping—by the three intelligence agencies. The telecommunications regime is overseen by the Interception of Communications Commissioner, normally a recently retired member of the senior judiciary, currently Sir Paul Kennedy. This is laid down in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Surveillance under this regime is overseen by the Intelligence Services Commissioner under the Intelligence Services Act 1994. ““Under the 2000 Act, the regime in respect of intrusive surveillance operations by the police and other domestic law enforcement agencies is different. Under these provisions, which originated with the 1997 Police Act, passed in the closing months of the previous Administration, with our support, there is a hierarchy of approvals depending on the nature of the surveillance concerned. In the case of eavesdropping operations, authorisation is required of a chief officer of police or officer of equivalent rank in the Metropolitan Police Service. This regime is supervised by the Chief Surveillance Commissioner, currently Sir Christopher Rose, formerly a senior judge of the Court of Appeal. ““Ministers play no part in these authorisations. Where any operation involves the use of HM Prison Service premises, neither the service, nor the Minister concerned, are asked for any additional authorisation for the operation. What the service is asked for, on the basis of a brief summary, is permission to conduct the operation and that judgment, by the service, is based on whether any order or control issues arise, and not on the merit of the authorisation itself. ““The Sunday Times story related to claims in respect of an alleged operation sought by and authorised by the police. It follows that this matter falls within the regime supervised by the chief surveillance commissioner. I can now announce to the House that with the agreement of my right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, the Chief Surveillance Commissioner, Sir Christopher Rose, has agreed to conduct an inquiry with the following terms of reference. To investigate the circumstances relating to the visits to Barbar Ahmed at HM Prison Woodhill, by Sadiq Khan MP, in May 2005 and June 2006, to establish whether the visits were subject to any form of surveillance and, if so, by whose authority, and with whose knowledge, and to report his findings to the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary. ““This inquiry will be fact-finding. Sir Christopher has told me that his aim is to conduct the inquiry as quickly as possible, but consistent with the thoroughness required. He will do his best to complete his task within two weeks. A further Statement will be made to the House once we have received and have been able to consider Sir Christopher’s findings. ““It may also assist the House if I mention two other matters. The first is the Wilson doctrine. This, as the House knows, was originally promulgated by the then Prime Minister, the late Harold Wilson, in 1966. He said that he had given instructions that there was to be no tapping of the telephones of Members of Parliament and that, if there were a development which required a change of policy, he would, at a moment that was compatible with the security of the country, make a statement about it. ““The terms of this Statement have been endorsed by successive Prime Ministers, including Tony Blair in a Written Ministerial Statement to this House on 30 March 2006. In a Written Answer in September 2007, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister said: " ““The Wilson doctrine applies to all forms of interception that are subject to authorisation by Secretary of State warrant””.—[Official Report, Commons, 12/9/07; col. WA 2103.]" ““Secondly, the question has been raised of interception or surveillance of conversations with any person, whether a suspect, a convicted criminal or otherwise, by their legal adviser. These are all subject to explicit safeguards which generally prohibit such interception or surveillance””. My Lords, that concludes the Statement.