§ Mr. SpeakerBefore I call the hon. Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker) to make a personal statement, I remind the House that personal statements are not followed by questions or debate and are heard without interruption.
§ Mr. RookerMr. Speaker, during the course of the debate on Lords amendments to the Industry Bill on Wednesday 18 June, I made allegations with respect to the purchasing policy of Rolls-Royce regarding certain machine tools. In that speech, I made specific reference to allegations, which I repeated, in respect of a Rolls-Royce employee, Mr. Frank Turner.
I repeated the allegations on the basis of information supplied in good faith. On the basis of all the information supplied, I considered that the whole issue should be raised here in the public interest.
It is now clear that neither those who supplied the information nor myself are in any position to substantiate the allegations in respect of Mr Turner, and I hereby withdraw without qualification the references which I made to him in columns 1684 and 1685 of Hansard for 18 June.
I offer my sincere apologies to Mr. Turner, his family, his close colleagues and the House.