Responding to President Obama’s reforms to political oversight of the NSA, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander said:

“I welcome President Obama’s acknowledgment of the need for a full and public debate. His recommendations reflect the widespread concern in the US about the oversight of the NSA.

“The very fact that President Obama has examined these issues is evidence that a debate is already underway in the US. So it is understandable that people here in the UK will welcome similar discussions of these issues.

“In the past some politicians may have been satisfied with their assumption that the security services were being held properly accountable. Today it is not enough for oversight to be working effectively, it has also to be seen by the public to be working effectively and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that this standard is being met.

“Whilst of course the legal, accountability, and representative structures in the US are different from those that we have here in Britain, there is a need for a wider debate here in the UK about what ongoing reforms could be put in place to uphold effective oversight and accountability.”

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