Contributions
1,658 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Hollobone, and to see the Bill Committee present. I thank all its members for taking part, and I observe that the room is…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, which raises a really important point that I will say something about. As I am sure you are aware, Mr Hollobone, yesterday was the…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank my hon. Friend for that helpful intervention. I do not want to take up too much of the Committee’s time on the way in which national security should be defined, or…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way, and for the excellent points he is making. He mentioned the evidence we took in our session with Dr Drew. Is it not true that in those…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the Minister for the way in which he is addressing these important proposals. I think that his concern is that this amendment would put the responsibility on the providers…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the Minister for his response. I am concerned that there is not greater clarity on the role of the supply chain components and the supply chain more generally. We will…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)My right hon. Friend is far too modest to set out his vast experience with and long-standing membership of the Intelligence and Security Committee. Does he agree that the…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I will not detain the Committee long, given that my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham made such excellent points. I will add one point of consideration, which again,…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)As always, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Indeed, the audit, which I agree is burdensome if the information is not already in the management systems, which it should be,…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I beg to move amendment 21, in clause 1, page 3, line 26, at end insert— “(2A) The Secretary of State must make regulations under subsection (1) requiring providers of public…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)Actually, the amendment would not limit Ofcom’s discretion to bring in additional resources or skills. It would limit Ofcom’s discretion to Government agencies or organisations…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the Minister for those comments. He says that the provision is already in clause 12. This is obviously down to my lack of studying, and I thought that I had studied every…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)I am slightly confused, to be honest, because there was a contradiction there. It is a basic, inherent requirement under the Bill to understand the security implications of a…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)My right hon. Friend makes an excellent point. As someone who worked for a regulator for six years, I might be expected to agree with my right hon. Friend on the point of…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Fifth sitting)Again, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point with regard to the way in which Huawei grew in the telecoms sector. I do not want to detain the Committee on that history, but…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)My right hon. Friend is making some excellent comments. He has raised another issue, which I perhaps did not highlight in my speech, which is that there might be existing…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)As the Minister says, reaching the end of consideration of clause 1 is a landmark. We are cracking on at a slower pace than anticipated, but it is important that we have rehearsed…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)Part of the challenge is that the operators do not know themselves and, as we have discussed, there are no incentives for them to find out. To give an example, Virgin Media took…21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)I had looked at those requirements. I appreciate that they are drafts, but they talk about identifying issues. They do not say “audit”.21 Jan 2021HANSARDTelecommunications (Security) Bill (Sixth sitting)It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe, and I thank the Minister for his comments. I also thank my right hon. Friend the Member for North Durham and my hon.…21 Jan 2021