OXFORDSHIRE MP Nicola Blackwood has criticised police for spying on journalists to discover their sources.

The Oxford West and Abingdon MP is a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, which said in a report that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) is not fit for purpose.

Police, including the Thames Valley force, have used the act – originally intended to fight serious crime and terrorism – to hunt down journalists’ sources.

Ms Blackwood said: “RIPA is not designed to help police ascertain journalists’ sources. I do not believe this is an appropriate use of RIPA.

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“There should be a higher level of scrutiny applied, such as a judge, if police want to access communications data that can only occur when it is absolutely necessary for combating serious organised crime or terrorism.”

She also criticised police for not monitoring the jobs of people they spied on, meaning it was impossible to say how many journalists have been monitored.

The report, released on Saturday, came after several reports of police accessing telephone records of journalists. Thames Valley Police has previously admitted bugging a local newspaper reporter in 2006, but refuses to reveal publicly other instances of when it used RIPA.

The committee has called for the RIPA Code of Practice to be amended, with special provisions for dealing with sources from journalists and other privileged information.

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