§ Q3. Mr. Wyn Robertsasked the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for 15th December.
§ The Prime MinisterThis morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be holding further meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.
§ Mr. RobertsCan the Prime Minister confirm today's Press report that the Government already have the Frolik tapes, which the Lord President seemed to know so little about last night? Secondly, does he agree that it would be right and fair to have an independent inquiry, so that those named can have an opportunity of clearing themselves?
§ The Prime MinisterAs is well known in the House, there is no ministerial responsibility for Press reports and Ministers are not required to answer for them. I was extremely surprised by the allegations made in the House yesterday. The hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mr. Hastings) said that he had been considering the matter for months. It is a well-known convention in this House—and it is usually accepted, although not by one or two hon. Members—that hon. Members do not raise these matters across the Floor of the House unless there has been previous discussion. I can tell the House that the hon. Gentleman at no time made any approach to me on this matter.
The general allegations have, of course, been floating around since January 1974 912 —nearly four years ago. They have been investigated in the past. I have no comment to make on the allegations, except to say that I think it disgraceful that members of the public should be put at risk in this way by such allegations, made without any reliable support.
§ Mr. HefferHas my right hon. Friend had the opportunity to read Mr. Andrew Alexander's column in the Daily Mail today, which, quite rightly, says that the speech by the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire (Mr. Hastings) was very silly? I think that that is the context in which it ought to be left.
§ The Prime MinisterPerhaps it was a silly speech, but it was calculated to do a lot of damage, and deliberately to do damage. Otherwise, if it had been intended to be raised to protect national security, I believe that the hon. Member would have come to me privately, expressed his views and asked me to investigate the matter. The matter could then have been cleared up. In fact, of course, these matters were looked into years ago—two or three years ago. What has been happening recently is that Mr. Frolik has been embroidering the original stories that he told when he was debriefed some years ago. It is a way of keeping himself in the public eye, and from time to time he manages to get some Press interest and to catch one or two Conservative Members.
§ Mr. HastingsWill the Prime Minister accept that I make no apology whatsoever for raising this matter? Does he agree that the only way to restore public confidence is to set up an independent inquiry, as asked for by my hon. Friend the Member for Conway (Mr. Roberts), whose supplementary question he has not answered? Will the right hon. Gentleman accept that I shall make all material in my hands available to such an inquiry?
§ The Prime MinisterKnowing him, I would not expect the hon. Gentleman to make an apology. But what I do say is that if he has any information, as he now says he has, he should have done the proper thing and communicated it to me instead of making allegations across the Floor of the House in the way that he did, skulking behind parliamentary privilege to attack people outside.