§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence what information on the course and position of the General Belgrano was available to Ministers in his Department between 30 April 1982 and 3 May 1982; and from the information now available to him, if the information available to Northwood on 30 April to 3 May differed from that available to him.
§ Mr. StanleyHMS Conqueror reported the course and position of General Belgrano to the Flag Officer Submarines at Northwood on a number of occasions between first sighting General Belgrano on 1 May 1982 and attacking her on 2 May. There is no evidence that these reports, which were not relevant to the threat represented by General Belgrano, were made known to 433W Ministers at the time. On the general question of information in relation to the Belgrano I refer the hon. Members to paragraph 6 of the letter that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to the hon. Member on 19 September.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Defence at what time Admiral Woodward learned of the visual contact which HMS Conqueror had established with the General Belgrano.
§ Mr. StanleyI shall answer shortly.