Lib Dem MP, Norman Baker, has received a ruling from the Information Tribunal upholding the decision not to clarify the status of the Wilson Doctrine or release details of how many MPs have had their communications intercepted since its introduction in 1966.
Mr Baker, who first submitted a Freedom of Information request on the matter in January 2005, asked both whether there had been a change in the policy of the Wilson Doctrine since 1966 of which the House of Commons had not yet been informed and also for details of the number of MPs who have had their telephones tapped or been subject to other intrusive surveillance.
Commenting on the Information Tribunal's ruling, Norman Baker said:
"This is obviously a disappointing outcome to a long-running attempt of mine to bring some clarity to the concept of the Wilson Doctrine and what it actually means in practice. Contrary to widespread understanding, the Doctrine does actually allow for MPs' phones to be tapped, providing that Parliament is subsequently informed. However, in the 41 years since the Wilson Doctrine has been adopted, Parliament has never been informed of any phone tapping.
"I am, of course, all too aware of the sensitivity of this issue but I do believe that it would have been possible for the Government to be more open about the matter without compromising national security, perhaps by releasing the numbers of MPs who have had communications intercepted in a given period in the past. As it stands, the Wilson Doctrine is completely ambiguous and not worth the paper it's not written on."
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