Stephen Ward

Lord Richard Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend of course speaks with great expertise as a former Minister responsible for this area. He is absolutely correct in what he has just said.

[Lord Richard (Lab)]

My Lords, I understand what the noble Lord is saying about files in the public archives, but for the life of me I do not understand why, if evidence was given at the trial, that evidence should not be made public. It was made public in the sense that, at one stage, it was given in public and people could hear it in public. What on earth is the justification now for not producing it?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

While the noble Lord makes the point that this evidence has been heard in an open court, it does not necessarily follow that all relevant transcripts are released. As I have already indicated, and will now repeat, there are certain sensitivities around what was revealed. Indeed, as the noble Lord will know, many people who gave witness testaments at the following Denning inquiry did so on the assurance that their records would be protected.