Procedure and House Affairs committee  There is coordination. I think it is reasonable to say that there are conversations that have happened, but those are conversations with Alison. I suspect this is not something that one would wish to discuss in an open session.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  There are certainly conversations. We have a security department, which Alison heads, and the police will.... There are contacts, clearly.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I think it is difficult to speak about this with much specificity in the open. Remember, there are multiple types of foreign interference, such as cybersecurity, falsified operations on social media, straightforward intimidation and, if you like, economic manipulation. On economic manipulation, trying to persuade members or Lords to do things in Parliament for financial gain, that isn't a matter so much about foreign interference.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You would not like my French.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm afraid that's outside my area of expertise. It would be something done by the director of security, whom I understand your committee wishes to see.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I'm sorry.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Our security team would doubtless do such things. There are scales of foreign interference that you might think of. It is well known, for example, that when China sanctioned certain members of Parliament, the Chinese ambassador was told he was no longer permitted to enter the precincts.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Let us try. If I can't answer, I will say so.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  I can give you some very high-level indications. The first thing to—

Procedure and House Affairs committee  The first thing to say is that the Intelligence and Security Committee isn't all hybrid. It is a statutory committee. It is not a normal parliamentary committee. Irritatingly, I've been hastily looking for the statute under which it's set up and that gives it powers. It isn't like an ordinary parliamentary committee where the powers are derived from parliamentary privilege.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for inviting me to appear. As the Clerk of the Journals in the United Kingdom House of Commons, I'm the House's expert on parliamentary privilege. I do also know something about our administrative practices, but other witnesses may be better able to speak about them.