§ 34. Mr. Skinnerasked the Minister for Overseas Development whether he will seek to arrange for the Fay Committee, currently inquiring into the Crown Agents, to issue an interim report.
§ Mr. SkinnerHas my right hon. Friend seen the recent article in The Times suggesting that the report, when it finally emerges, may not be published in full anyway? Will he give a guarantee to the House that no politician whose company has been involved in borrowing from the Crown Agents, or any civil servant who has given wrongful, misleading or insufficient advice to politicians, will be shielded by the report? Will he give a guarantee that unlike the case of the Lonrho Report, this report, which is headed by an ex-Ombudsman, will be published in full?
§ Mr. PrenticeMy hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner) is becoming a bit of a bore on this subject. Every month he makes indications that suggest that I want to hush up some aspect of this matter. I do not care what kind of insinuations he makes about me, but I believe that it is a misuse of parliamentary privilege to keep making 23 insinuations against unnamed Members of Parliament and civil servants, who are in no position to reply to this kind of smear campaign.
§ Mr. DalyellAs one who may not on every occasion share the political opinions of my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner), may I say that there are others besides my hon. Friend who are also concerned about this matter? Therefore, will not the Minister reconsider his answer?
§ Mr. PrenticeThe whole House is concerned about the matter, and I share that concern. That is why this very high-powered committee under Judge Fay is undertaking a long and painstaking job. The reason why I am not insisting on an interim report—and I do not think that the House should ask for one—is that I believe it is better to wait a little longer to obtain a thorough and detailed report rather than to attempt to rush matters in what, necessarily, is a complex investigation.