Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office seeking two records concerning political parties in Hong Kong in the 1970s. The FCDO applied sections 23(1) (information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters) and 24(1) (national security) of FOIA, in the alternative, to refuse the request. The Commissioner’s decision that the FCDO was entitled to apply sections 23(1) and 24(1) in the alternative, to withhold the requested information. The Commissioner does not require further steps.