[Greg Pope]

I have a lot of sympathy with what has already been said on here about this and it is a fair question to ask why MPs should be treated any differently than anyone else. The Wilson Doctrine does not say that MPs cannot be bugged, it simply says that to do so would need the agreement of the Prime Minister. The security services are accountable to the Government and through that to Parliament, which is why the situation is slightly different for MPs. However, if an MP is thought to be a security threat to the country then I think they should be treated like any other threat. I should point out that in this instance nobody is suggesting that Sadiq Khan MP is a threat, and the bugging appeared to be aimed at his constituent (in prison awaiting deportation to face terror charges in the USA) rather than him. I don't think anyone has bugged me recently!