Draft Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (Remedial) Order 2023

Stuart C McDonald Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 General Committees

[Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)]

It is very good to see you in the Chair, Mr. Hosie. I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation of the order before us today, and I join the shadow Minister in sending our praise and thanks both to the security services and to the journalists who also serve this country.

As you know better than anyone, Mr Hosie, the SNP has regularly raised concerns about the vast scope of some bulk interception powers and various others in our investigatory powers legislation, as well as the inadequacy of certain oversight arrangements and protections. For those reasons, we welcomed the European Court judgment in the Big Brother Watch case, which emphasises the importance of that institution and remaining part of the convention. We note that in this Parliament the Joint Committee on Human Rights has supported the draft order. For the reasons set out by that Committee, the SNP supports the remedial measure proposed today, which aims to make our arrangements compliant with the Big Brother Watch judgment.

I emphasise that the draft order does not fix all our concerns about the sweeping powers enjoyed by our services under the Investigatory Powers Act, but our ongoing concerns are a matter for another day. For the time being, we support the order.