The Committee asked for further information on Stenbell. The sequence is as follows:

6. Mr Robinson acquired one of two shares in February 1996.

7. This should have been included in the Registers for 31 March 1996 and 31 January 1997. It first appeared in October 1997.

8. Mr Robinson became entitled to a rights issue in the summer of 1996. Stenbell subscribed for the shares to enable the envisaged profit to help fund the New Statesman. The shares were sold to the Orion Trust in September 1996 at a loss.

9. This was a significant transaction (albeit as a conduit for the shares) at a time when Mr Robinson's shareholding was unregistered.

10. Mr Robinson was not required to sign a registration form prior to the Registers of March 1996 and January 1997. (This is only done after an election or, exceptionally, following a major revision of the rules, as in January 1994; in other years Members are merely asked to check that previous entries should be continued.) He signed a 'Nil Return' in July 1997, having divested himself of directorships and having put his shareholdings into a 'blind trust' in accordance with the Ministerial Code. However, I advised him to register the shareholdings placed in the blind trust and this he did in time for the October printing.

28 October 1998