§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library unrestricted information about ricin from the Laboratory of the Government Chemist. [91431]
§ Dr. MoonieThis question has been transferred to me for response because it was Ministry of Defence scientists from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down who have been responsible for the identification of ricin in the recent terrorist alert.
The Laboratory of the Government Chemist was privatised in 1996 and no longer has any official status. Therefore, in response to your request for unrestricted information on ricin to be placed in the Library of the House, I will make arrangements to place such information from Dstl in the Library. Information on ricin is already available from the Department of Health website.