§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is true that the object of the visit of the nuclear-powered submarine "Dreadnought" to Iran is to co-operate in the incorporation of nuclear-powered submarines in the Iranian navy and whether a Royal Navy hydrographic team has been surveying the Gulf for this purpose.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMThe answer is, No, my Lords.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the defence correspondent of The Times made these 848 statements in some detail? Is it not therefore necessary for Her Majesty's Government to deny the statement with more than the one word which the Minister has used?
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy noble friend obviously believes what he reads in newspapers. I do not think there is anything more absolute than the word, "No".