The footage was seized by police under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts following an outcry in parliament and the press.

The Act was introduced by Roy Jenkins, then Home Secretary, as a severe and emergency reaction to the Birmingham pub bombs.

There was a strong desire to respond to what was perceived as "the greatest threat [to the country] since the end of the Second World War.

In fact, much of the Bill had been drafted in secrecy during the previous year, as shown in the only full-length television commentary on the legislation by Clive Walker.

[7][page needed] The Philips commission on Criminal Procedure, published 1981, had a significant impact on the subsequent 1984 legislation.