Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether officials at his Department held discussions with representatives of (a) the US National Security Agency and (b) GCHQ on influencing UN Security Council vote in March 2003 on the second resolution to authorise intervention in Iraq.

It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

The Government deplores the leaking of any classified information, wherever it occurs. Such leaks can make the work of maintaining the security of our own country and that of our allies more difficult.