Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received of theft of metal and other valuable items from HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales which were sunk off the coast of Malaysia in December 1941.

We are concerned by reports of damage being done to the wrecks of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse by metal salvage companies and recreational divers off the coast of Malaysia. We welcome the actions of the Malaysian Marine Department which impounded a vessel responsible for illegally disturbing and salvaging ship material for scrap earlier this year.