§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the occasions on which statements made by his Department in respect of the deaths of British service men killed during action in the Gulf conflict have been subsequently corrected.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI have been able to identify only one change to an official statement on British personnel killed in action in the Gulf. This was the reduction to 24 of the total "killed in action", which I gave in my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Davyhulme (Mr. Churchill) on 28 June at column579. I am, however, aware that some of the early accounts about the weather and 3 RRF's activities given to the next of kin of personnel involved in the Warrior/A-10 friendly fire incident, through the regimental support system, later proved to be mistaken. I can assure the hon. Member that these accounts were given in good faith at the time. The answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Mr. Oppenheim) on 24 July at columns 706–9 gave the official statement on the incident.