§ Mr. Meacherasked the Lord Privy Seal which Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments apart from the information department distribute unattributable material to journalists and other opinion formers in the United Kingdom and overseas; and what material they distribute.
§ Mr. BlakerNews department frequently gives unattributable briefing to journalists, for the main part orally, but occasionally written material is used to supplement the oral briefing. From time to time most other departments, including the information department, meet requests for informal briefing from other opinion formers on various aspects of international affairs.