Zircon (Hansard, 22 April 1987)

§ 7. Mr. Dalyell
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications for his Department of the current state of investigations into the Zircon affair.

§ Mr. Renton
As the hon. Member is aware, the article and film by Mr. Duncan Campbell on Zircon are the subject of a police investigation into possible breaches of the Official Secrets Act. In these circumstances, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the matter he raises.

§ Mr. Dalyell
When, at 15.05 hours on Monday 26 January, Chief Inspector Ray Dowd of the Metropolitan police told Mr. Alan Protheroe, the assistant director general of the BBC, that he would have to take further instructions, were those instructions from the lead Department, in this matter the Foreign and Commonwealth Office? If not, were they from Downing street? Who did they come from? Who was in a position to give further instructions to chief inspector of the Metropolitan police?

§ Mr. Renton
If the hon. Gentleman is asking whether the police operation was directed from 10 Downing street or by any member of the Government, of course it was not. Apart from the Law Officers acting in their prosecuting capacity, the Government had no involvement in the police operations.

§ Mr. Dickens
Does my hon. Friend the Minister agree that some hon. Members would do better to employ their time in thinking about the defences of the United Kingdom and not so much about coming into the Chamber to make cheap political points at the expense of the nation's security?

§ Mr. Renton
Yes, I have strong sympathy with what my hon. Friend has just said.

§ Mr. Foulkes
In spite of all the huffing and puffing of the "tea dancers" on the Tory Benches, does the Minister understand that my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) and others will continue to search for the truth in this matter? Did the Minister see the article in The Independent of 11 February by Tony Bradley, professor of constitutional law at Edinburgh university? In that article — [Interruption.] Listen. In that article Professor Bradley observes that the prosecutor in Scotland must take account of the wishes of the victim, and in the Zircon case the alleged victim was the Foreign Office. Can the Minister tell the House, honestly, how the views of the Foreign Office were taken account of by the prosecutor and what the Foreign Office has been told now about the progress of the investigation?

§ Mr. Renton
The hon. Gentleman raises three separate issues. First, I do not remember the article in The Independent to which he referred. Secondly, my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General did not consult members of the Government, including my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary, before inviting the Director of Public Prosecutions to request the police to carry out an investigation. Thirdly, my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Advocate is responsible for assessing the public interest in all cases of this sort in Scotland, and I have no doubt that he will have in mind the point that the hon. Gentleman has made.

§ Mr. Dalyell
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the Minister's reply, I give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.