§ Mr. Grimondasked the Lord Privy Seal if he will list the cases, with dates, in which the Foreign Office has paid the costs of members of the Foreign Service who have sued in libel actions.
§ Mr. HurdThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not paid the costs of any members of its staff who have sued in libel actions. The analogous cases referred to in my reply of 29 October to the right hon. Member include rare occasions where the Home Office has given approval to requests for the cost of civil proceedings by a police officer to be met from the local police fund to the extent that they are not recovered from the defendant. Approval has been given only when the action was considered to be in the interests of the police officer and of the police service. In addition, a prison governor and a Service officer have received help from public funds in defamation proceedings.