§ Mr. WilshireTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what communications have been received from or sent to any terrorist organisation or Sinn Fein since 29 November.
§ Sir Patrick MayhewFor the reasons I explained to the House on 29 November,Official Report, columns 785-812, while it is useful to have a means of communication by which messages could be exchanged indirectly between the Government and the provisional movement, such a chain could function only if its secrecy was respected on both sides. Accordingly, we do not propose to divulge any 299W further information about messages sent or received or to comment further, save to give the assurance that any communications from Her Majesty's Government will be consistent with their publicly stated policies.