Hugh Powell

(asked on 10th January 2024) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether there were grounds for Hugh Powell to recuse himself from the Heywood Review into allegations of UK involvement in the Indian Army's operation against the Golden Temple considering his father's position as the Prime Minister's private secretary at the time of the operation.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 22nd January 2024

The Heywood review of 2014 worked specifically to establish facts about the UK advice and assistance to the Indian Government during Operation Blue Star 1984. It concluded that UK assistance was advisory, ended several months before the operation and had limited impact on the tragic events that followed. The UK Government has concluded that there is no basis to challenge the conclusions of the 2014 review or to review the broader decisions of the government of the day.

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