International Law

Jack Straw's Wilson Doctrine statement -Sir Christopher Rose to inquire into the Sadiq Khan MP / Babar Ahmad eavesdropping affair

Jack Straw made a statement in the House of Commons regarding the apparent breach of the Wilson Doctrine, involving the electronic eavesdropping on conversations which should have been protected by Constituent / Member of Parliament privilege and, perhaps also of client / lawyer privilege which seems to have occurred at Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes.

It announced Yet Another Inquiry, this time by Rt. Hon. Sir Christopher Rose, the current Chief Surveillance Commissioner, but with very limited terms of reference, and no power to compel testimony from the key witnesses.

Jack Straw did not clarify the details of the Wilson Doctrine, and ruled out an investigation of the bugging or interception of supposedly privileged client / lawyer conversations.

4 Feb 2008 : Column 660

HMP Woodhill (Inquiry)

3.34 pm

The Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Jack Straw): With permission, Mr. Speaker, I should like to make a statement. As the House will be aware, there appeared in The Sunday Times yesterday allegations that conversations between my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) and a constituent of his, Mr. Babar Ahmad, detained in prison on an extradition warrant, had been subject to covert recording when my hon. Friend visited Mr. Ahmad 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 hon. 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.

Somehow, as a former Home Secretary and former Foreign Secretary and now Minister of Justice / Lord Chancellor in charge of Prisons, Jack Straw has managed to elbow Home Secretary Jacqui Smith out of the limelight - she is supposed to be the Cabinet Minister who is politically accountable for the Police and the the counter-terrorism agencies, but she obviously is not up to the task, and she does not seem to have uttered a word in public about the scandal.

Full post as published by Spy Blog on February 05, 2008 (boomark / email).