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Christopher Traynor

Sir Nicholas, I am delighted to sit under your chairmanship again today. I pay tribute not only to my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bootle (Mr. Benton), but to all those who have kept this case alive in Parliament and the media in an attempt to try to get justice for the family. I am particularly grateful to my hon. Friends the Members for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) and for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) and to my right hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Woodward). I pay tribute, too, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield did, to the family of Christopher Traynor. This was a tragic set of circumstances and a tragic culmination to a tragic period in his life. I wholeheartedly pay tribute to the work that his family has done. All those who work in the Foreign Office, including consular staff, fully understand the personal commitment that individuals have made to try to ensure that they get a full understanding of exactly what happened. I think that everybody in the consular service in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office accepts that questions remain unanswered on this issue. There is clearly a sharp distinction between what the French and British coroners said. There is a sharp distinction between what the police and prosecuting authorities in France and those in the United Kingdom consider to be the case. There are inconsistencies.