MPs: Snowden files are 'embarrassing

indictment' of British spying oversight

All-party committee demands reforms to make security and
intelligence services accountable in wake of disclosures
The report says the current system of oversight of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, pictured, is 'designed
to scrutinise the wor of George !mi"ey, not the #$st%century rea"ity'& 'hotograph( )euters
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
*riday + May #,$-
.dward !nowden's disc"osures of the sca"e of mass survei""ance are /an em0arrassing
indictment/ of the wea nature of the oversight and "ega" accounta0i"ity of 1ritain's security
and inte""igence agencies, M's have conc"uded&
2 high"y critica" report 0y the Commons home affairs se"ect committeepu0"ished on *riday
ca""s for a radica" reform of the current system of oversight of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, arguing
that the current system is so ineffective it is undermining the credi0i"ity of the inte""igence
agencies and par"iament itse"f&
The M's say the current system was designed in a pre%internet age when a person's word was
accepted without 3uestion& /It is designed to scrutinise the wor of George !mi"ey, not the #$st%
century rea"ity of the security and inte""igence services,/ said committee chairman, 4eith 5a6&
/The agencies are at the cutting edge of sophistication and are owed an e3ua""y refined system
of democratic scrutiny& It is an em0arrassing indictment of our system that some in the media
fe"t compe""ed to pu0"ish "eaed information to ensure that matters were heard in par"iament&/
The cross%party report is the first 1ritish par"iamentary acnow"edgement that !nowden's
disc"osures of the mass harvesting of persona" phone and internet data need to "ead to serious
improvements in the oversight and accounta0i"ity of the security services&
The M's ca"" for radica" reform of the system of oversight inc"uding the e"ection of the
mem0ership of the inte""igence and security committee, inc"uding its chairman, and an end to
their e7c"usive oversight ro"e& Its chairman shou"d a"so 0e a mem0er of the "argest opposition
party, the M's say, in direct criticism of its current head, !ir Ma"co"m )ifind, who is a former
Conservative foreign secretary&
)ifind, however, said he had read the report, and had conc"uded( /The recommendations
regarding the I!C are o"d hat& *or severa" years, Mr 5a6 has 0een trying to e7pand the powers
of his committee so that they can tae evidence from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ& This is what this
0it of his report is a"" a0out&/
)ifind attempted to head off some of the M's' conc"usions 0y announcing that the I!C wou"d
conduct its own in3uiry into persona" privacy and state survei""ance& He a"so attaced !nowden
and his supporters for their /insidious use of "anguage such as mass survei""ance and
8rwe""ian/ 9 which, he argued, /0"urs, unforgiva0"y, the distinction 0etween a system that uses
the state to protect the peop"e, and one that uses the state to protect itse"f against the peop"e/&
However, a comp"ete overhau" of the /part%time/ and under%resourced system of oversight
commissioners is recommended 0y the M's, as is an end to some of the secrecy surrounding
the Investigatory 'owers Tri0una" 9 the on"y 0ody that is a0"e to investigate individua"
comp"aints against the security agencies&
2 par"iamentary in3uiry into the principa" "ega" framewor that "egitimises state
communications survei""ance, the )egu"ation of Investigatory 'owers 2ct #,,,, shou"d 0e
"aunched, they say, to 0ring it up to date with modern techno"ogy and improve its oversight
safeguards&
The committee a"so voices strong concerns that a data protection ru"ing 0y the .uropean court
of :ustice "ast month has "eft the "ega"ity of the 0u" co""ection of communications data 0y the
phone and internet companies in serious dou0t& /It is essentia" that the "ega" position 0e
reso"ved c"ear"y and prompt"y,/ say the M's, who revea" that the home secretary, Theresa May,
has ordered urgent wor into the ru"ing's fu"" imp"ications for the po"ice and security services&
The M's say they decided to "oo at the oversight of the inte""igence agencies fo""owing the
theft of a num0er of ;ationa" !ecurity 2gency documents 0y !nowden in order to pu0"icise the
mass survei""ance programmes run 0y a num0er of nationa" inte""igence agencies&
Their report says 2"an )us0ridger, editor of the Guardian, responded to criticism of newspapers
that decided to pu0"ish !nowden's disc"osures, inc"uding the head of MI6's c"aim that it was /a
gift to terrorists/, 0y saying that the a"ternative wou"d 0e that the ne7t !nowden wou"d :ust
/dump the stuff on the internet/&
The M's say( /8ne of the reasons that .dward !nowden has cited for re"easing the documents
is that he 0e"ieves the oversight of security and inte""igence agencies is not effective& It is
important to note that when we ased 1ritish civi" servants 9 the nationa" security adviser and
the head of MI5 9 to give evidence to us they refused& In contrast, Mr )us0ridger came 0efore
us and provided open and transparent evidence&/
The report maes c"ear the inte""igence chiefs shou"d drop their 0oycott of wider par"iamentary
scrutiny& /.ngagement with e"ected representatives is not, in itse"f, a danger to nationa" security
and to continue to insist so is hyper0o"e,/ it says&
1ut a move 0y <a0our and <i0 =em M's to congratu"ate the Guardian and other media out"ets
for /responsi0"y reporting/ the disc"osures 9 saying they had opened a /wide and internationa"
pu0"ic de0ate/ 9 was voted down 0y four Tory M's&
>vette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the report showed there was a cross%party
consensus 0ehind <a0our's proposa"s, inc"uding reform of the commissioners system and an
opposition chair of the I!C& /The government shou"d now set out p"ans for oversight reforms,/
she said&
;ic C"egg has a"so out"ined proposa"s for reforming the oversight system&
Cooper added that the se"ect committee had added their voice to the growing num0er of M's,
who were ca""ing for reform& !he said that the po"ice and security services needed to eep up
with the cha""enges of the digita" age 0ut stronger safeguards and "imits to protect persona"
privacy and sustain confidence in their vita" were a"so needed( /The oversight and "ega"
framewors are now out of date,/ said the shadow home secretary&.mma Carr, of 1ig 1rother
?atch, the privacy campaign group, said( /?hen a senior committee of par"iament says that the
current oversight of our inte""igence agencies is not fit for purpose, ineffective and undermines
the credi0i"ity of par"iament, the government cannot and must not continue to 0ury its head in
the sand&/
<ast night, a statement 0y the 2ssociation of Chief 'o"ice 8fficers @2cpoA and the Terrorism
and 2""ied Matters @T2MA 1oard 9 consisting of assistant commissioner Cressida =ic, chief
consta0"e !ara Thornton, chief consta0"e !ir 'eter *ahy, chief consta0"e Chris !ims, chief
consta0"e Mar Gi"more and chief consta0"e Matt 1aggott 9 said they were /concerned/ the
committee had recommended that responsi0i"ity for counter%terrorism po"icing shou"d 0e
moved to the ;ationa" Crime 2gency&
The statement descri0ed it as /a decision that does not appear to supported 0y the evidence and
is 0ased on an apparent misunderstanding of the ro"e p"ayed 0y the Metropo"itan 'o"ice
!ervice&/Counter%terrorism po"icing is not directed through a sing"e "ead force 0ut rather has
responsi0i"ity vested in nine chief consta0"es across the B4 in areas where the threat is
considered to 0e the greatest& These chief consta0"es act co""a0orative"y and effective"y on
0eha"f of a"" forces, whi"e at the same time maintaining c"ose and critica" "ins into "oca"
po"icing&/
The statement added( /The Home !ecretary has previous"y confirmed that she wi"" conduct a
review of counter%terrorism structures& ?e we"come any such review and "oo forward to
participating fu""y and constructive"y in it& /
The Home 8ffice said( /8ur security agencies and "aw enforcement agencies operate within a
strict "ega" and po"icy framewor and under the tightest of contro"s and oversight mechanisms&
This represents one of the strongest systems of checs and 0a"ances and democratic
accounta0i"ity for secret inte""igence anywhere in the wor"d&/