CONSERVATIVE
New Forest East

FOREIGN AFFAIRS – LEAKS TO THE MEDIA - 23 March 2010

FOREIGN AFFAIRS – LEAKS TO THE MEDIA - 23 March 2010

[Sir Gerald Kaufman: May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on being the first western statesman to take specific action against the serial crimes committed by the Israeli Government? However, he surely must recognise that anybody passing through the corrupt passport control and airport security system at Ben Gurion airport is liable to have her or his passport cloned and abused. If he wishes to have any further information about my own personal experiences of those corrupt systems, I shall pass it on to him.]

Dr Julian Lewis: I think we can rest assured that even Mossad will think twice before trying to steal the identity of the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Sir Gerald Kaufman).

Given the importance of the proportionate response that the Foreign Secretary has rightly outlined to the House, how was it that the BBC, nearly two hours before he made his statement to the House, put up a news item headed, "Britain to expel Israeli diplomat", quoting diplomatic sources? Should that not have been said in the House first?

[The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband): I am glad to have the opportunity to tell the hon. Gentleman that of course the House should be the first to hear. I have been assured that there is no suggestion of the Foreign Office being the source, and I am determined that when we have something to say it should be said here first.]