As always, the hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Sometimes the difficulty is that the amount of data and communications that providers store means that they are unable to know what is there. Very often, controls are triggered electronically, and so human eyes might not necessarily see the communication that relates to a terrorist plot, organised crime or even, in a hidden
corner of it all, some kind of child abuse. Quite often, no human eyes see it, and it may be that only after an event—as in the case of Fusilier Lee Rigby—do people become aware that there was a communication that indicated that someone was about to or was likely to do something, and that knowing about it could have made a difference, as we concluded in our report the other week. Perhaps I have presented too cynical a picture of communications service providers. I know that, on occasion, they do co-operate constructively, but I believe that increasingly we need the space in which they operate to be better regulated, and that requires international controls agreed between responsible allies and CSPs themselves.
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I will end my speech by discussing an issue on which I know my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) is likely to speak next, which is privileged information and certain professions “immunity” from these provisions. I think the principle is correct: there are certain discussions and areas of information that should be privileged—for example, if somebody talks with their legal adviser or gives information to a journalist or even in the privacy of a Member of Parliament’s surgery. However, I am not sure that the amendment my hon. Friend has tabled would achieve that end without creating a gap between what is necessary and what is desirable. I simply echo what has been said by the hon. Member for Cities of London and Westminster in asking how we define a legitimate professional journalist. There are thousands and thousands of people online who would consider themselves journalists but who may well have ulterior motives or connections with a terrorist community or with people plotting terrorism.
As a matter of principle, I think my hon. Friend is right, but we need to find proper ways to make sure that exceptions to the rule are governed under the same rules as everybody else. [Interruption.] Does my hon. Friend wish to intervene?