§ Mr. Hancockasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what request as to the revelation of the contents of the telephone call to the Leader of Portsmouth city council on 4 March was made in the course of the telephone call.
§ Mr. John Patten[pursuant to his reply, 8 December 1986]: I do not recall asking Councillor Gibson to delay revealing the contents of the conversation to his council, and would have had no reason to do so. My recollection is that Councillor Gibson for his part did not ask that the conversation should be kept in confidence, but mentioned that he would wait until the letter giving details of the Secretary of State's decision arrived before informing the Council.