§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) which other Departments were sent copies of Sir Stephen Gomersall's telegram on Japanese investment in the UK; [129756]
(2) if he has ordered a inquiry into the leaking of Sir Stephen Gomersall's telegram on Japanese investment in the UK; [129742]
(3) if he will list the people in his Department who had access to the telegram on Japanese investment in the UK by Sir Stephen Gomersall; [129746]
(4) when his Department received Sir Stephen Gomersall's telegram on Japanese investment in the UK; and what action was taken after it was received. [129743]
§ Mr. BattleI deplore the leaking of Sir Stephen Gomersall's telegram on Japanese investment in the UK.
Reports of this kind are routinely circulated to all Government Departments with an interest in the subject. This includes the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Department for Trade and Industry, the Invest in Britain 343W Bureau (now Invest UK), British Trade International, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for International Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Scotland Office, the Northern Ireland Office and the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales. On the same basis, such reports are also widely circulated within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Sir Stephen Gomersall's telegram was received in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 22 June 2000. It was then distributed in the normal way, through a mix of paper and electronic copies.
An inquiry into the leak has been launched.