HC Deb 27 February 1885 vol 294 c1615
MR. FINCH-HATTON

asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether it is a fact that the cypher agreed upon between General Lord Wolseley and General Gordon was that despatches from Khartoum should be read as indicative of the reverse of their apparent meaning—e.g. that "Khartoum all right, can hold out for years," should mean "Khartoum in danger, can hold out only a very short while;" and, if so, when information to that effect first reached Her Majesty's Government?

MR. GLADSTONE

There is no foundation whatever for the statement.