§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications for the Lockerbie investigation of developments at the forensic science laboratory in Kent. [29972]
§ Mr. HowardAn independent scientific review is to be conducted by Professor Brian Caddy which will consider the instances where contamination might have taken place from the particular centrifuge in question. It would be quite wrong to attempt to pre-empt the results of that review by indulging in speculation concerning what those results might be. It is a matter of public record that residues of both RDX and PETN, which are components of a high performance plastic explosive, Semtex, were identified in debris from the Lockerbie disaster by the forensic explosive laboratory. I understand from my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate that the evidence which forms the basis of the charges against the two Libyans does not depend on the identification of the high performance plastic explosive which destroyed the aircraft at Lockerbie.