Britain on Monday denied that its intelligence agencies acted unlawfully, after a Guardian newspaper report suggested they had received internet and phone data on Britons collected secretly by the United States, according to dpa. Claims that Britain had circumvented British law by using the US' PRISM programme were "baseless," Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament, adding that Britain had one of the strongest systems of checks and balances in the world. Information-sharing with the US had "saved many lives," he added. His statement to parliament came shortly after Prime Minister David Cameron said he could not provide a "running commentary" on intelligence matters, but said that British agencies were subject to "proper scrutiny."
