§ 3. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)Pursuant to his oral answers of 30 March 1998, Official Report, columns 887–88, on WPC Fletcher, what discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on those matters which have made the investigation into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher more complex than was originally expected; and if he will make a statement. [40265]
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Jack Straw)I have written to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, bringing to his attention the concerns expressed by my hon. Friend on 30 March. I have also informed my right hon. Friend of the latest position on the police investigation, including the pursuit of inquiries in Germany, which are of course the responsibility of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
§ Mr. DalyellWhat did the Foreign Secretary say? Given the grave doubts of Colonel George Styles, the senior ballistics expert of the British Army, of Hugh Thomas, the consultant surgeon in Belfast, and of Bernard Knight, the distinguished Home Office pathologist, none of us can be surprised that the inquiry is taking so long; but as it is indeed taking so long, how can it form any basis for a policy of sanctions against Libya, as it is only slightly less dubious than the inquiry into Lockerbie?
§ Mr. StrawMy hon. Friend will understand that my responsibility in this matter arises from my role as the police authority for the Metropolitan police, and that I have none for sanctions against Libya. This is a complicated inquiry, and I know that my hon. Friend has been generous about the efforts that have been made by the Metropolitan's assistant commissioner, David Veness.
§ Mr. Tony Baldry (Banbury)How can the House feel confident that any information provided by Foreign Office Ministers is based on their having read all the relevant cases? Will the Home Secretary take it from me—a former Foreign Office Minister—that the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from recent events is that no Minister in the Foreign Office is reading his or her boxes?
§ Mr. StrawI do not accept that for a moment. I know that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary takes the Lockerbie inquiry very seriously indeed.