§ Mr. Macleanasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has received a report from the investigator who inquired into the alleged leak of information about the recommendations of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in regard to the bid by Scottish and Newcastle Breweries plc for Matthew Brown plc; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HowardThe investigator appointed to inquire into this alleged leak has now reported after a thorough and painstaking inquiry. No proof has emerged of a deliberate leak having occurred, although the investigator could not rule out the possibility that some information about the Monopolies and Mergers Commission findings may have leaked. He concluded, however, that if this were the case, any such leak was likely to have resulted from indiscretion or accident rather than intentioned revelation. He has not been able to identify a source. He found that the letter written by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence to a member of the public on 8 October was not responsible for stock market movements or the article inThe Times and had no bearing on the main events of the case.