On 30 April the story was raised in the House of Commons, and the government declined to endorse it. Lord Robert Cecil declared that he had no information beyond newspaper reports. He added that, "in view of other actions by German military authorities, there is nothing incredible in the present charge against them." However, the government, he said, had neither the responsibility nor the resources to investigate the allegations. In the months that followed, the account of the "" circulated worldwide, but never expanded beyond the account printed in "The Times"; no eyewitnesses ever appeared, and the story was never enlarged or amplified.