Parliament barred from debating spy scandal

Press, 15 July 1987, Page 8

Parliament barred from debating spy scandal

NZPA-AAP London British members of Parliament were told yesterday they could not debate the latest developments in the Peter Wright affair. There was a row when the Speaker of the House of Commons ruled that a parliamentary debate of allegations contained in the former MIS officer’s book, “Spycatcher,” could not go ahead. The Speaker said it was traditional that members of parliament not debate matters before the British Courts. The Government is still seeking a ruling, now from the Court of Appeal, that anyone publishing the book or referring to its contents is guilty of contempt of court. This follows the printing of

excerpts by three newspapers. A former Labour cabinet member, Tony Benn, attacked the Speaker’s decision saying Parliament was "failing in it constitutional task.” The move for a debate came after the publication of “Spycatcher” in the United States on Monday and another printing of its allegations of security service misconduct in Britain, in “The Times.”

The Governmejit said on Monday it would prosecute the newspaper, owned by Mr Rupert Murdoch.

Forty thousand hardback copies of “Spycatcher” went on sale in the United States.

Many are expected to reach Britain through American mail order outlets and airport book-

stalls. Labour’s shadow Attorney General, Mr John Morris, said “Spycatcher” would soon be passed throughout Britain “like a dirty book.”

The Government is still attempting to have the book banned in Australia, and is reported to be considering action in Canada.

But its American legal advisers were said to have advised that action there would fail. Meanwhile, the Press Association reported that the Government may attempt to prevent Peter Wright receiving any profits from the sale of his memoirs.

Any legal action would be on the grounds that the material in his book was acquired while he was being paid by the Crown.