§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence if, pursuant to the answer of 31 March, Official Report, c. 212, in view of the extracts sent to his Department by the hon. Member for West Lothian, he can now say whether the statement in February made by a spokesman from his Department concerning the sinking of the General Belgrano was made with his authority.
§ Mr. BlakerA spokesman for the Ministry of Defence is quoted in theSoutham News as pointing out that the hon. Member had overlooked the fact that the General Belgrano did not set a steady course. No specific authority would be required for such a statement, which is entirely consistent with answers given to the hon. Member's previous questions, to the effect that the Argentine warships had made many changes of course during 2 May and that the course being steered at any one moment was incidental to the indications we possessed of a threat to the task force.