I take the noble and learned Lord’s point that “theoretical” is perhaps the wrong word to use and that “speculative” may be more appropriate. I wonder whether he could answer the question I posed earlier. Given that these powers have been available since 2000, can he tell the Committee whether the authorities have ever used them or whether we are talking in abstract terms about something that may have been required in the past? If it has not been used in the past 16 years, it is speculative.
Investigatory Powers Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Pannick
(Crossbench)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 13 July 2016.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Investigatory Powers Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
774 c247 
Session
2016-17
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2017-02-17 09:56:44 +0000
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