The UK government has sought to reassure MPs that their data on Microsoft’s servers in the Republic of Ireland cannot be accessed by US surveillance agencies.

William Hague, the leader of the House of Commons, said there’s nothing to fear after an MP said he was concerned about the security of parliamentary data stored on Microsoft’s Cloud-based servers in Europe.

In a letter responding to concerns raised by John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, Hague wrote: “The relevant servers are situated in the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands, both being territories covered by the EC Data Protection Directive.

“Any access by US authorities to such data would have to be by way of mutual legal assistance arrangements with those countries.”

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