§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any officers in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are to be, or have been, reprimanded for their part in the action against Gay's The Word bookshop and its directors and staff.
§ Mr. BrookeNo.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Her Majesty's Customs and Excise were acting on complaints received from members of the public when the decision was taken to launch Operation Tiger against Gay's The Word bookshop in Marchmont street.
§ Mr. BrookeNo.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of Operation Tiger and all the subsequent legal proceedings against Noncyp Ltd., trading as Gay's The Word, and its nine directors.
§ Mr. BrookeI refer the hon. Member to my replies to him on 7 July at column 80.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of hours engaged by all grades of staff in Operation Tiger and subsequent legal proceedings, including all preparatory work, against Gay's The Word bookshop in Marchmont street.
679W
§ Mr. BrookeInformation about deployment of resources on particular cases in the detail required is not readily available. A retrospective estimation would be subject to a considerable margin of error and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Her Majesty's Customs and Excise will compensate Gay's The Word bookshop and the nine directors and staff for losses incurred as a direct result of the Operation Tiger raids in April 1984, the subsequent seizure of stock, the charges brought by the Department, the loss of turnover, and the legal expenses incurred by them up until the time the Department applied to the Central Criminal Court for the case to be struck out.
§ Mr. BrookeNo.
§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken to issue guidance, following the European Court ruling, to prevent a repetition of the action taken by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise against Gay's The Word bookshop and its nine directors and staff.
§ Mr. BrookeImmediately after the European court ruling was known, guidance was issued to Customs staff to ensure that it was applied to future importations from whatever source.