Wilson Doctrine

rdf:langString Wilson Doctrine

rdf:langString The Wilson Doctrine is a convention in the United Kingdom that restricts the police and intelligence services from tapping the telephones of members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. It was introduced in 1966 and named after Harold Wilson, the Labour Prime Minister who established the rule. Since it was established, the development of new forms of communication, such as mobile phones and email, has led to extensions of the doctrine. However, it was never extended to cover members of the new devolved legislatures. For a period, GCHQ chose to also apply the same principle to members of the devolved legislatures, but in July 2015 it emerged that the application of the principle to members of the European Parliament and devolved legislatures had been ended. In October 2015, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled that the doctrine had no legal force. In November 2015, the Prime Minister made a statement clarifying how the "Government continues to apply the doctrine in the twenty first century". The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 requires that warrants to intercept the communications of MPs and other Parliamentarians must also gain the authorisation of the Prime Minister.