ABSTRACT
Largely because of Heath’s letter, the Cabinet Secretary convened a meeting of officials that afternoon (24 February), attended by Dunnett, Sir George Coldstream, 31 Greenhill and the Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary ‘Michael’ Halls, 32 to discuss what to recommend to Wilson. Trend acknowledged ‘it might be necessary to conduct an enquiry’, to consider what in fact had happened between Lohan and Pincher, the adequacy of the ‘D’ Notice procedure as such, and the powers to intercept cables and telegrams and the use made of those powers. In discussion it became clear Heath intended to up the political ante by making his letter public. Officials agreed any enquiry into the facts would inevitably lead to further enquiry into the powers to intercept cables. For this reason, although an SPBC meeting should go ahead, it was undesirable the SPBC should conduct the Enquiry, both because its Secretary would be a subject of it, and because details of the intercept procedure should not be revealed to Media Members.
