British Govt crisis deepens

Press, 17 January 1986, Page 6

British Govt crisis deepens

NZPA-Reuter London The British Government sank deeper into crisis yesterday over allegations that Parliament had been misled about the Cabinet role in the Westland helicopter affair.

A question mark remained over the future of Secretary for Industry, Mr Leon Brittan, in spite of his assurances to the House of Commons that he had not actively sought to secure a United States-led rescue of Westland, Britain’s only helicopter maker. Westland, which is close to bankruptcy, has been offered two rescue bids — one led by Sikorsky of the United States, the other from a four-nation European consortium led by British Aerospace.

Mr Brittan’s statement to Parliament was after a day of unprecedented disclosures by the Government of previously confidential documents.

The Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher’s, office published the documents in an attempt to prove that Mr Brittan had not lied over his role and that he had maintained an even-handed Government policy of leaving the future of the company to its board and shareholders.

The crisis erupted a week ago with the resignation of the Secretary for Defence, Mr Michael Heseltine. He said that Mrs Thatcher had attempted to silence his sponsorship of the European consortium bid.

said that the

Foreign Office had contacted the British Ambassador in Rome, ordering him to request that the Italian Government make no further statements in favour of the European consortium bid.

The Foreign Office later confirmed it had sent a telgram to the Ambassador on January 8, a day after the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Bettino Craxi, had shown support for the European rescue. The telegram, “instructed our Ambassador to emphasise to the Prime Minister’s office that it is for the board and the company to decide on the relative merits” of the rival bids.

The Opposition Labour Party failed by 367-217 votes at the end of aisix-

hour debate to secure the establishment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the Westland affair. The documents released by Mrs Thatcher’s office included a letter from BA chairman, Sir Austin Pearce, outlining a meeting on January 8 between Mr Brittan and the BA chief executive, Sir Robert Lygo. Also released was a previously classified official record of the meeting, which was in sharp variance with the Pearce letter. Both versions nonetheless acknowledged Mr Brittan’s concern that the campaign to defeat the Sikorsky bid could be interpreted as antiAmerican and therefore threaten BA sales in the United States.