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Speaker's Committee on the Search of Offices on the Parliamentary Estate

I shall give way in a moment, because I know that hon. Members wish to intervene. We should remember that at the time consent was given it appears that a magistrates court had issued a warrant to search the hon. Gentleman's home and constituency office. But further to your statement, Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that I have asked that we consider at our next House of Commons Commission meeting two further matters that should provide even further reassurance to hon. Members: first, whether it should not be a magistrate, but only a High Court judge who would have the power to grant a warrant to carry out a search in Parliament, and, secondly, whether, through the Speaker's counsel, there could be an opportunity for representations to be made to a court considering an application for a warrant to search in the House about the high test that should be applied before a warrant is granted for a search within Parliament. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, the Commission could consider a further question: if hon. Members' data and papers are to be protected when they are on the parliamentary estate, should they attract the same level of protection when they are in the Member's home or in his or her constituency office? It is, of course, the material that is at issue here, not the building. This is something that the Commission could consider as you take forward the changes in search procedure that you announced last Wednesday.