National Security Bill (Fourteenth sitting)

Jess Phillips Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 18th October 2022 Public Bill Committees

[Tom Tugendhat]

I will come to the point made by the right hon. Member for Dundee East. He is absolutely right. Forgive me—that is a drafting error, which we will look at and tidy up.

On diplomatic staff, the hon. Member for Halifax makes a fair point. This is, however, diplomatic staff and their spouses acting in an official capacity—when they are conducting duties on behalf of their nation, and on behalf of the mission that they are sent to support. It is not supposed to be a blanket exemption; it is merely when they are acting in their role.

Who will manage the unit? A scheme management unit is expected to sit within the Home Office—that is, at least, the current plan—which will administer the scheme. It is unlikely that every registration will need to be scrutinised. More likely, the register will be a resource for public scrutiny. That is where the right hon. Member for North Durham, who is not currently present, was absolutely right: sunlight is the best disinfectant, and indeed disinfectant is the best sunlight.

[Jess Phillips (Birmingham, Yardley) (Lab)]

I am sure that the Minister has heard, just as I have, about cuts to Government Department budgets. This being a new additional spend, I wonder whether there has been any assessment of the cost of it, and whether he thinks the cost of it will survive.

[Tom Tugendhat]

As with the whole Bill, the way to think about it is as a public register, and because it is a public register the scrutiny will be provided, no doubt, by our friends in His Majesty’s press corps, who will look through every detail, as they look through every detail of the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and ensure that they keep us on our toes. They will no doubt do the same for businesses.

I will have a look at the question of the 14 days as opposed to 10. I am not quite sure why there is that difference, so I will come back to the hon. Member for Halifax on that, and with further details on the management of the scheme.

Question put and agreed to.

New clause 18 accordingly read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

New Clause 19

Registration information

“(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the information a person is required to provide to the Secretary of State when registering—

(a) a foreign activity arrangement under section (Requirement to register foreign activity arrangements),

(b) an activity under section (Requirement to register activities of specified persons),

(c) a foreign influence arrangement under section (Requirement to register foreign influence arrangements), or

(d) a political influence activity under section (Requirement to register political influence activities of foreign principals).

(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may, in particular, require the person to provide information about any arrangements made by the person pursuant to the arrangement or activity which is required to be registered.

(3) Where there is a material change to any information provided to the Secretary of State under this section or section (Information notices) in relation to a registered arrangement or a registered activity, the person who registered the arrangement or activity must inform the Secretary of State of the change before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the change takes effect.

(4) The Secretary of State—

(a) may by regulations make provision about the information to be provided to the Secretary of State under subsection (3),

(b) may issue guidance about what may or may not constitute a material change.

(5) The provision which may be made by regulations under this section includes provision about the form in which information is to be provided.

(6) A person who fails to comply with subsection (3) commits an offence if, as a result of the failure, the information provided to the Secretary of State in relation to the registered arrangement or registered activity is misleading, false or deceptive in a material way.”—(Tom Tugendhat.)

This new clause provides for the information to be provided when registering arrangements and activities under the registration scheme.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

New Clause 20

Information notices

“(1) The Secretary of State may give an information notice to—

(a) a person who is a party to a foreign activity arrangement registered under section (Requirement to register foreign activity arrangements);

(b) a person who is a party to a foreign activity arrangement which is required to be, but is not, registered under that section;

(c) a person who has registered activities under section (Requirement to register activities of specified persons);

(d) a person the Secretary of State reasonably believes to be carrying out an activity in breach of the prohibition in that section.

(2) The Secretary of State may give an information notice to—

(a) a person who is a party to a foreign influence arrangement registered under section (Requirement to register foreign influence arrangements);

(b) a person who is a party to a foreign influence arrangement which is required to be, but is not, registered under that section;

(c) a person who has registered activities under section (Requirement to register political influence activities of foreign principals);

(d) a person the Secretary of State reasonably believes to be carrying out a political influence activity in breach of the prohibition in that section.

(3) An information notice is a notice requiring the person to whom it is given to supply the information specified in the notice.

(4) An information notice must—

(a) specify the form in which the information must be supplied, and

(b) specify the date by which the information must be supplied.

(5) Where an information notice has been given to a person, the Secretary of State may cancel it by giving written notice to that effect to the person.

(6) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about—

(a) the minimum period between the date on which an information notice is given and the date specified under subsection (4)(b);

(b) other matters which may be specified in an information notice;

(c) the cancellation of information notices.

(7) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person fails to comply with an information notice.

(8) The Secretary of State may not give an information notice to a foreign power.”—(Tom Tugendhat.)

This new clause permits the Secretary of State to give a notice to a person to provide information in connection with arrangements or activities registrable under the registration scheme.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

New Clause 21

Confidential material

“(1) Nothing in this Part is to be taken to require any person to disclose any information that the person is entitled to refuse to disclose in legal proceedings on grounds of legal professional privilege (in Scotland, confidentiality of communications).

(2) Nothing in this Part is to be taken to require any person to disclose confidential journalistic material or to identify or confirm a source of journalistic information.

(3) In this section—

“confidential journalistic material” has the same meaning as in section 264 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016;

“source of journalistic information” has the same meaning as in section 263 of that Act.”—(Tom Tugendhat.)

This new clause ensures that the obligations in connection with the registration scheme do not affect legal professional privilege or require the disclosure of confidential journalistic material.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

New Clause 22

Offence of providing false information

“(1) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person provides information to the Secretary of State under section (Registration information) or (Information notices) in connection with a foreign activity arrangement, and

(b) the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way.

(2) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person provides information to the Secretary of State under section (Registration information) or (Information notices) in connection with an activity which is required to be registered under section (Requirement to register activities of specified persons), and

(b) the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way.

(3) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person provides information to the Secretary of State under section (Registration information) or (Information notices) in connection with a foreign influence arrangement,

(b) the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way, and

(c) the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way.

(4) A person commits an offence if—

(a) the person provides information to the Secretary of State under section (Registration information) or (Information notices) in connection with a political influence activity which is required to be registered under section (Requirement to register political influence activities of foreign principals),

(b) the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way, and

(c) the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, that the information is false, inaccurate or misleading in a material way.”—(Tom Tugendhat.)

This new clause creates offences of providing false or misleading information in connection with the registration scheme.

Brought up, and read the First time.

--- Later in debate ---

[Holly Lynch]

I suspect the Minister understands the points I am making and is sympathetic to what I am trying to get at. I put him on notice that, where I think there is information that could and should be in the public domain and I meet barriers relating to national security reasons preventing it from being in the public domain, I will be a thorn in his side every step of the way. With that veiled threat—

[Jess Phillips]

It wasn’t veiled.

[Tom Tugendhat]

Not very veiled, no.