§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer to the right hon. Member for Richmond, Yorks, (Mr. Hague) of 8 July 1998,Official Report, column 1066, what potential sources of the leak of the Strategic Defence Review will be considered by the leak inquiry. [50536]
§ The Prime MinisterThe independent investigator appointed by the Cabinet Office to conduct the inquiry into the leak of the Strategic Defence Review will determine what sources should be considered by the leak inquiry.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Prime Minister when copies of the Strategic Defence Review were first provided to(a) Opposition parties and (b) the media. [50537]
§ The Prime MinisterCopies of the Strategic Defence Review were first given by the Government under the usual embargo terms to the Defence spokesmen for the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Mr. Maples) and the hon. and learned member for Fife, North-East (Mr. Campbell) at a meeting with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence at 11.00am on 8 July.
The media received their first copies from the Government at a Press Conference held at the Ministry of Defence Main Building at 1.15pm on 8 July. Attendance 252W was restricted to those who had agreed to be locked in until sometime after my right hon. Friend had started his statement to the House of Commons.
These procedures are fully in line with the usual arrangements.