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Prisons: Woodhill

My Lords, this is a Statement of some concern. The manner in which it has come out also causes concern. We have had a leak, clearly instigated by a whistleblower; the postal service, Royal Mail, is implicated in letters going missing; and, after some pressure since yesterday, we have now had this Statement in the House. It is a very brief Statement that is as sketchy as it could be to be any kind of meaningful summary of what has happened. It says very little and tells us very little. The noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, has asked a few questions, and I wonder whether I might add to some of them. The inquiry is of course very welcome, and important things will come to light as we see the results. There are a few specific points to make. We understand that the security agencies asked for a review of the Wilson doctrine. Is that correct? If they did, what has been the Government’s response to the request? If the Government do not wish to disclose that at this point, will they ensure that we get an idea through the inquiry of how applicable they think the doctrine is in the world we now live in? We also understand that the doctrine does not apply to e-mails. Is that correct, or are e-mail communications now subject to it? If not, are they likely to be in the future? My final concern is about the impact on and the damage done to the subject of the intercept. Although Barbar Ahmed might rightly have been of concern to the security services, you would not expect the finger to be pointed at a Muslim MP seeing a constituent. Will the inquiry look at whether the authorisation, if granted legally and lawfully, was specific to the particular Member of Parliament or to the particular person held in custody? Finally, can the Minister tell us whether he is holding any meetings with members of Barbar Ahmed’s family and others as a matter of urgency to reassure them as to the agenda that was in place here?