§ Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the costs to be borne by Her Majesty's Government for the settlement of the case conducted by Lord Ashcroft; whether an apology has been issued; who has the responsibility for the errors which have been accepted by Her Majesty's Government; and if he will make a statement. [119175]
§ Mr. StrawThe settlement of the cases brought by Lord Ashcroft against various Government Departments involved a payment of —350,000 towards Lord Ashcroft's overall costs, two thirds of which will be paid by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and one third by the Department for International Development.
45WOn the occasion of settlement, on 5 June, the following Government statement was read out in Open Court:
During the years 1999 and 2000, documents held by certain Government Departments, and which contained references relating to the affairs of Lord Ashcroft were disclosed to the media.Despite investigation, the Government was not able to establish how the unauthorised disclosures to the media occurred.The Government has though recognised that various disobliging references relating to Lord Ashcroft which were contained within documents held by Government Departments were without foundation.Lord Ashcroft commenced litigation following the unauthorised disclosures. That litigation has today been settled, with the Government Departments which were defendants to those actions apologising to Lord Ashcroft.