Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under what statute was the interception of the communications of the (a) Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and (b) Legal Resources Centre of South Africa described by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal authorised.

It is the longstanding policy of successive British governments not to comment on intelligence matters. However, I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the judgment of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, 22 June 2015, which found that any interception that occurred was lawful and proportionate under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.