Member

More fundamentally, I would be grateful if the Minister could answer one very simple question: what protection currently prevents information obtained by a UK regulator under these powers being passed to an authority overseas, where it could then contribute to the prosecution of an individual in a judicial system in which a fair trial cannot be guaranteed? I do not think that this amendment should be seen as inhibiting legitimate international cyber security co-operation—quite the opposite. We want information to be shared rapidly with trusted partners where that makes us safer, but international co-operation cannot mean that information gathered under UK statutory powers should be available to regimes that may subsequently use it to facilitate political persecution.