My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, for her kind remarks about my noble friend Lady Hamwee. I can assure her that my noble friend will be watching and listening intently as we come to the end of this Report stage.
We support Amendment 42 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Clark of Kilwinning. The noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, ably and comprehensively explained the amendment, which means that I can be brief.
8.15 pm
Protection of sources of journalistic information is covered by the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which requires the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to
have regard to the public interest in protecting such sources and the need for there to be an another overriding public interest before a public authority seeks to identify or confirm such a source—as set out in Section 77(6). The wording of this amendment mirrors that of the 2016 Act.
If other ways of identifying journalistic sources covered by the 2016 Act require this level of protection, there is no reason why the granting of criminal conduct authorisations should not also be covered. We will vote for this amendment if the noble Baroness divides the House.