Conduct Of Lord Archer Of Weston-Super-mare In Respect Of Share Dealing (No. 3)

EDM number 874 in 1994-95, proposed by Gordon Prentice on 22/03/1995.

That this House notes that after an inordinate delay of six months Lord Archer has finally replied to the honourable Member for Pendle about the Peer's share dealing in Anglia Television in January 1994; further notes the noble Lord's comment that DTI lawyers said there was no case to answer and that the Secretary of State decided to ask the advice of independent lawyers who came to exactly the same conclusion; recalls that neither the DTI Inspectors' report nor the instructions to or advice from the independent lawyers have ever been published; and believes that a string of questions remain unanswered and again invites the noble Lord to lay the matter to rest once and for all by simply explaining why he bought shares on behalf of Mr Boosk Saib, why he was confident the share price would rise, why he asked for the transaction to be done on new account dealing terms, whether the shares were to be held as a long-term investment and, if so, whether the noble Lord or Mr Saib would pay the ú240,000 for the shares on settlement day.

This motion has been signed by a total of 28 MPs.