Cabinet was told nothing about GCHQ spying programmes,
says Chris Huhne
The Guardian - 10/06/13, Nick Hopkins and Matthew Taylor
Chris Huhne questions whether the Home Office deliberately misled parliament over the surveillance capabilities of GCHQ, pictured. Photograph: GCHQ/MoD/EPA
Cabinet ministers and members of the national security council were told nothing about the existence and scale of the vast data-gathering programmes run by British and American intelligence agencies, a former member of the government has revealed.
Chris Huhne, who was in the cabinet for two years until 2012, said ministers were in "utter ignorance" of the two biggest covert operations, Prism and Tempora. The former Liberal Democrat MP admitted he was shocked and mystified by the surveillance capabilities disclosed by the Guardian from files leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
More: TheGuardian.com
