Hague: Snooping claim 'baseless'
The Foreign Secretary has dismissed claims that spy centre GCHQ used private data from US security agencies to circumvent British laws are "baseless."
Hague to be quizzed over GCHQ's US spy links
William Hague will face questions from MPs today over GCHQ's links to a controversial US internet monitoring programme.
The Foreign Secretary is due to make a statement to the Commons amid mounting pressure to reveal information about connections to the Prism system.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Mr Hague insisted the British eavesdropping agency had not been trying to dodge tough legal checks on their activities.
The law-abiding British public had "nothing to fear" from their work, he added.
Mr Hague said: "As someone who knows GCHQ very well... the idea that in GCHQ people are sitting working out how to circumvent a UK law with another agency in another country is fanciful. It is nonsense."
The Cabinet minister declined to confirm that he had personally authorised engagement with the US Prism programme.
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Government insists British spies operate within the law
The Foreign Secretary said British intelligence would never use its partnership with the United States to get around UK laws.
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GCHQ: From Cromwell to the internet
GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is one of three UK intelligence agencies that form the UK's security and intelligence system.
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US spy programme claims raises privacy fears in the UK
Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all denied claims that they cooperated with US intelligence agencies to gather data on foreign users.