CONDUCT OF THE HONOURABLE MEMBER FOR THANET SOUTH AND THE SCOTT INQUIRY

That this House notes that on 2nd or 3rd September 1992 the Right honourable Member for Thanet South signed a public interest immunity certificate covering documents required by the defence in the Matrix Churchill case; believes that the only reason the certificate was not used was due to the intervention of the Treasury Solicitor; deplores the action of the Right honourable Member when the documents covered by the certificate included reports relating to the supply of arms to Iraq by BMARC, a company of which he was a director at the relevant time; is further concerned at the Right honourable Member's refusal to disclose the two sets of evidence that he has submitted to Sir Richard Scott's inquiry, especially given his position as a director of BMARC when its parent company Astra acquired in July 1989 the Belgian company PRB which was responsible for manufacturing the propellant for use by the Iraqui supergun and that at the same time as the Right honourable Member was Deputy Chairman of Aitken Hume it was acting as financial advisers to Walter Somers, who produced part of the supergun, and when one of Aitken Hume's directors, a Mr S. Twentyman, was also a director of Sheffield Forgemasters who built the remainder of the supergun; and believes that in the public interest the Right honourable Member for Thanet South should disclose his evidence to the Scott Inquiry and make a full personal statement to the House.