Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague speaks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, presented by Sophie Raworth, in this photograph provided by the BBC, in London June 9, 2013. REUTERS/Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via Reuters
UK Says Eavesdropping Is Legal, Defends U.S. Spy Links -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Britain said eavesdropping by its GCHQ security agency was legal and no threat to privacy but would not confirm or deny reports it received data from a clandestine U.S. intelligence program.
British and U.S. newspapers have suggested that the U.S. National Security Agency handed over information on Britons harvested by a secret program called PRISM.
In his first remarks on the subject, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the two countries did share intelligence but that GCHQ's work was governed by a very strong legal framework.
"The idea that in GCHQ people are sitting around working out how to circumvent a UK law with another agency in another country is fanciful," Hague told BBC TV on Sunday.
"It is nonsense".
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Update #1: US surveillance row washes up on Pacific allies' shores -- Reuters
Update #2: NSA spying revelations leave Europe silent -- New Europe
My Comment: I am not surprised that many European governments are "silent" or refusing to comment on this story. But I suspect that in the next few weeks the governments of many of America's allies are going to be asked if they participated in the NSA tracking program .... or if they a similar program of their own .... especially since some of these countries have NSA built facilities on their own soil.