Security watchdog censures May for neglecting to give evidence

THERESA MAY has been criticised for breaking with protocol by not speaking formally to the intelligence and security committee since coming to power.

Dominic Grieve, its chairman, said it was normal for the prime minister of the day to give evidence to the committee on an annual basis, but that no leader had done so since 2015.

Mr Grieve stressed that while he had met the Prime Minister on a one-toone basis, in his view “the joint meeting between the prime minister and the committee is very important”. He said it was “regrettable” so many dates had been cancelled.

The Prime Minister’s absence from proceedings was only one area of frustration expressed by the committee over government support for its work.

In its report on the 2017 terror attacks, Mr Grieve said: “It has been striking how many of the issues which arose in relation to the 2017 terrorist attacks had been previously raised by this committee in our reports on the 7/7 attacks and on the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

“We have previously made recommendations in all these areas, yet the Government failed to act on them.”

Keith Simpson, another Conservative

‘We have previously made recommendations in these areas, yet the Government failed to act on them’

committee member, took aim at the length of time it took the Government to supply information for the report. “Where does the buck stop in terms of the inability of parts of Whitehall to provide us with answers on time, and to carry out the recommendations or not that we have provided?” he asked. “There are areas where we are not receiving [evidence]. The question to be asked is ‘why are we not receiving it’?”

Mr Grieve agreed: “It would be greatly to the Government’s advantage if there was a smoother cooperation to producing the material we asked for, or for saying ‘you can’t have it’... but months of delay are really not helpful.

“We would work much better if we had a better level of cooperation in producing what we asked for in a timely fashion. We have a sense of frustration; the system grinds far too slowly.”

A secret version of the report will be presented to the Government. However, Mr Grieve warned its “closed” nature should not be an excuse “for simply popping it on the shelf and thinking ‘we’ll apply our minds to it’ as it gently drifts off with all the other priorities.

“We try [in this committee] to do some work that is designed to be of benefit. It’s not just some form of occupational therapy for members of parliament,” he said.