Rishi Sunak accused of preventing oversight of national security matters
The Intelligence and Security Committee wants to address the matters of ‘serious concern’ with Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak has been accused of hiding security matters from proper oversight by the parliamentary watchdog that overlooks the country’s intelligence activities.
The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) – which is made up of senior MPs and peers – complained that they have not met a prime minister since 2014 in an annual report published this week.
The panel said it had not been given oversight on how security responsibilities had been deolved across government, despite past assurances by ministers that its remit would be extended to cover any new bodies.
And it claimed to face opposition in adding Whitehall departments to its remit, including the investment security unit in the Cabinet Office and the intelligence policy department in the Foreign Office.
The committee chairman, Sir Julian Lewis, said the ISC’s current lack of oversight of those bodies was a “matter of serious concern”.
“It is deeply disappointing that effective scrutiny of national security issues is being prevented, in direct contravention of commitments given to Parliament. We question whether the Government has really thought through the consequences of its current position.”
The MPs and peers also lamented the lack of a meeting with the prime minister for nine years. Such a meeting took place annually for 20 years following the panel’s establishment in 1994.
The absence of a meeting since 2014 is “unacceptable and reflects the disengagement from the ISC of successive prime ministers,” the committee said.
“The committee urges the Prime Minister to meet with it as a matter of priority: there are matters of significant constitutional importance at stake.”
Labour’s shadow security minister Dan Jarvis said: “National security is the first duty of any government. However, this report exposes serious gaps in the Government’s response.
“There has been no meeting with a prime minister since 2014. In the meantime, the committee has issued serious warnings over oversight on sensitive transactions, and over the Government’s decision to reject Labour’s amendment to the National Security Act that would have strengthened the ISC’s oversight of agency work.
“We need renewed leadership to keep our country, people, and institutions safe. Labour would put national security at the heart of our programme for government, including leading cross-government action to tackle state threats.”