Spying on press must be banned, says Davis after Darroch fiasco
DAVID DAVIS has called for the intelligence agencies to be banned from spying on journalists in the wake of a Whitehall inquiry into the Sir Kim Darroch leaks.
The former Brexit secretary yesterday demanded assurances from ministers that police forces and the security services were not engaged in “intrusive surveillance techniques” towards reporters involved in the fiasco.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis cited reports that counter-terror officials are allegedly scanning journalists’ phones to identify the “mole” who leaked the explosive diplomatic wires which ended Sir Kim’s career.
The disclosures, which sent shock waves through London and Washington, are now subject to a full-blown leak inquiry assisted by Scotland Yard.
The Met became embroiled in a row over press freedoms after it warned newspapers they could face prosecution if they published any more leaks.
While the force has rowed back and insisted it respects the rights of the media, campaigners have raised concerns.
Raising the issue in the Commons yesterday, Mr Davis warned that “one of the worst things a government can do to damage democracy is to undermine freedom of the press”.
He told MPS: “In the last week, there have been numerous press reports of the police using ... ‘the full force of the state’ to pin down the source of the recent leak.
“According to the reports, this includes analysing mobile phone data in journalists’ phones, including location data showing everywhere they’ve been the previous weeks. If true, this would be astonishing intrusion … because it puts at risk every single confidential source they’ve had, not just the one the police may be looking for.”
Nick Hurd, the police minister, said the Government was committed to protecting a free press, but journalists were not entitled to “blanket protection from legitimate investigation”.
He added that the Government believed the Investigatory Powers Act “does provide strong protections in relation to the use of investigatory powers for the purpose of identifying or
‘If it’s just embarrassment, you don’t use counter-terror rules but ones that respect the rights of a free press’
confirming a journalistic source and for the obtaining of confidential journalistic information”.
However, Mr Davis told The Telegraph it was not enough to simply say “trust me”.
“That’s not an approach that is acceptable to me, and my concern is not the police, who are bound by warrant, so much as the agencies,” he said.
“The British establishment has got itself in a rare old lather about the embarrassment of one ambassador.
“This is not like Kim Philby. If it’s just embarrassment, you don’t use counter-terrorism rules, you use ones that pay proper attention to the rights of a free press.
“Maintaining a free press is much more important than not insulting President Trump.”