§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment which bodies or persons outside his Department he consulted about the invitation which he received to attend or be represented at a symposium on atomic waste and the environment in Newcastle on 16th December; whether he received any representations that he should not attend; and why the nature of his reply to that invitation was known within the nuclear industry in the North-East before it was made known to the organisers of the symposium.
§ Mr. Denis Howell:I received no representations nor sought any outside advice about the invitation, originally addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy, to attend the Northumberland and Newcastle Society's symposium on radioactive waste. A reply was sent on 5th December; its terms could only have been speculation before that date.