Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to the publication of the Intelligence & Security Committee report today, said:

“I welcome this report from the Intelligence and Security Committee. As I said in my evidence before the Committee, as a result of fast moving technology, the law and our oversight framework are now out of date. I am glad the Committee has recognised this and called for a fresh approach.

“Our intelligence agencies and the police do incredible work to keep our country safe from threats to our democracy and our freedom. At a time of increasing terror threats, and new problems such as online child abuse, they need to be able to keep up with new technology.

“But the oversight and legal safeguards need to keep up too. It is in the interests of the agencies that there should be a clearer framework of safeguards to sustain continued confidence in the important work they do.

“Too often the Tories and the Liberal Democrats within the Government have tried to set up a caricatured argument between security on the one hand and liberty on the other. Yet most people know it’s vital to protect both in our democracy, and we need a thoughtful debate about how to get the detail right. That’s what this report does.

“This important ISC Report now needs to be considered, alongside the independent review into RIPA to be published by David Anderson shortly, so we can update the legal framework to cope with fast changing technology.

“Sticking plaster legislation - as the government put forward last summer - just isn’t good enough​. We need a serious and sustainable framework that will command consent for years to come.“