§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make available to the Public Record Office, Foreign Office Document E4154/1/93, Class 371, Piece 27078, dated 1941, relating to events in Iraq and listed as being retained in his Department.
§ Mr. EnnalsNo. It would not be in the public interest to release these papers. With the approval of the Lord Chancellor, they were withheld from the Public Record Office under Section 5(1) of the Public Records Act, 1958, as amended by the Public Records Act, 1967. When the Second Reading of the 1967 Public Records Act was moved in another place, the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Gardiner, 111W described certain categories of records which would have to remain closed for periods longer than 30 years. These papers fall within one of those categories.