§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will place in the Library copies of all press statements relating to the Gibraltar incident issued by his Department on 6, 7 and 8 March;
(2) what was the basis for statements by his Department at 9 pm on 6 March and on the morning of 7 March that military personnel dealt with a suspect bomb;
(3) when, following the Gibraltar shootings, he first became aware that no bomb had been found in Gibraltar;
(4) on what basis his Department issued a statement at 4.45 pm on 6 March that a suspected bomb had been found in Gibraltar.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Ministry of Defence press office issued no written statements on 6, 7 or 8 March and responded orally to press enquiries, from the evening of 6 March onwards. Early responses were based on information from Gibraltar that a suspect car had been dealt with by a military explosive ordnance disposal team, and it only became clear during the course of the morning of 7 March that the car had not contained a bomb. This was explained in my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary's statement to the House at 3.30 pm on 7 March.