§ Mr. AllasonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to allow Mr. Jock Kane to publish his two books; and what are the legal costs incurred by the Treasury Solicitor.
§ Mr. HurdI have no plans to apply for the lifting of the High Court injunctions restraining the publication of these books. The books contain information which would cause serious damage to national security and which Mr. Kane obtained in the course of his employment at GCHQ.
The Treasury Solicitor has estimated the legal costs for the 1987 High Court case as £5,870. Figures are not available for 1984, but would not exceed the 1987 figure. Action also taken in 1987 in the Scottish courts, in which legal costs of £839 were incurred.