Thatcher’s defence wins party over

Press, 29 January 1986, Page 10

Thatcher’s defence wins party over

NZPA-Reuter London The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, has given a vigorous defence of her role in the Westland affair that won the support of her Conservative Party but left the Opposition determined to press their case against her. By a unanimous vote at the end of an emergency debate in Parliament yesterday, the Conservatives indicated they accepted her assurances- that she had not been guilty of any complicity in the leaking of a secret Government document The debate ended with a 379-219 Government majority.

Conservative members of Parliament later said they believed Mrs Thatcher had successfully overcome the worst crisis of her years in office and that her speech spelt the end of the affair.

But a Labour Party spokesman, John Smith, replying to a 20-minute speech by Mrs Thatcher in a packed House of Commons, said questions remained unanswered. “This affair will not go away.”

Mrs Thatcher had given her fullest explanation so far of how a confidential letter from the SolicitorGeneral, Sir Patrick Mayhew, a senior Government

law officer, to the then Defence Secretary, Michael Heseltine, came to be leaked. She had already admitted to the House last week that the Trade Minister, Leon Brittan, who resigned on Friday, and her own close aides had been engaged in the leak. She disclosed yesterday, for the first time, that she had initiated the writing of the Mayhew letter. She said it had been intended to correct Inaccuracies by Mr Heseltine, who was defying her by promoting a European rescue bid for the ailing Westland helicopter firm. She said the decision to leak parts of the letter

had been taken because of a misunderstanding between officials of the Trade Ministry and her own staff. She had not known of the leak until some hours later and she regretted what had happened. “Indeed, with hindsight, it is clear that this was one, and doubtless there were others, of a number of matters which could have been handled better, and that too, I regret” She said an inquiry had established that the Trade Ministry officials mistakenly believed they had the authority of her Downing Street office when they leaked the letter in a telephone call

to the Press Association, Britain’s domestic news agency.

Among the Conservatives who rose to support her were Mr Heseltine, whose resignation on January 9 sparked the crisis.

“I believe what the Prime Minister has said today brings the politics of this matter to an end,” he said. Labour’s John Smith told the House, “If we accept the Prime Minister’s explanation, then it is a sorry tale of woeful incompetence and, if we do not, then its whole integrity is suspect”

The Leader of the Labour Party, Mr Neil

Kinnock, opened the debate. He said that she was on trial for what he called evasions and manoeuvrings, “falsehoods and deceits" over the leak. But within 10 minutes, as he delved into the details of the affair, he lost members’, attention. There was muttering In the background and he could not restore his authority. Tory members believe that Mr Kinnock’s failure to command the House blunted Labour’s attack and presented Mrs Thatcher with an advantage before she began her explanation of events.