◆ SpookStack

“Sigs ‘ tha. a. a as " ” tod 3 aad , Carter lita fa ee berets hom. CONS att: A he te “ ae + neal Soe ‘eg, wes Seal ‘ ara bia ll ~ oom = . nad Pied 7H. s 1 a ae ae ‘DPINIO PY SERIAL —THE END? Four years, five months, and 13 days. That is ‘the Jength of time eince Burgess and Maclean slipped aboard a cross- Channel steamer and vanished. Today at last comes the chance of hear- _ ing the full official story. - Of course there are still > some who pretend that the ; mystery is of little account, hardly worth today’s debate in Parliament. Yet at this moment British represen- _tatives are in Washington trying to persuade the Americans to change the minds and jlend Brita their proving - ground “™tdst the British H-bomb. * gWould this permission have been refused but for ithe weakness jn British security shown up by the missing diplomats ? The Astor line-up VEN the Times, a news- paper which long con- fined itself to reporting the oficial replies to questions, suddenly recognises that the truth about the miss ing diplomats must be told. It now writes of “official prevarication,” describes the White-paper as “shame- fully belated,” and declares . that “ The House is entitled 3 to be resentful.” 3 The Observer too, despite ardent obstruction of the ally Express’s Anquiri S, ow demands a “sever igvestigation into Mis da full disclosure oie Foreign. Office’s mistakes, lonel the Hon. J. J, Astpr he Observer is edited {s nephew David Astor. it appears that the Astor family is for once solidly pehind the Dally Express. The Times is ae Answers, please HAT are the questions to which M-P.s should seek answers today? They are these. How did Burgess - ever come to be appointed ? Were not his Communist leanings well known? Was an adverse security report on him overridden ? Why were Maclean and he retained despite their candalous persong!] ehaviour ? How many officials wre Id of the decision [to interrogate Maclean —- a decision taken a few hours before he fled? . Why did it take more , than two years to trace Jeaks of information to ‘Maclean? And who gave him the tip-off when he had been traced ? Blame the delay ET there be no shirking of any of these questions —nor of many more arising from them. The blame in any case does not belong to the Government, The flight occurred before the Tories came to office. ; If Ministers feel that th hey are on the spot, if is fanlt Tw their OW ia@as, apry dee not have witnifetd e facts all this time. 7 | (ee Are faults corrected p-| ; HE purpose of e inquest. must be [to dis cover what went wrong and whether it has been put right. Sir Anthony Eden has been prompt in arranging this debate. He has wisely decided not to make it an ifsue of confidence, These are hopeful om at the matter cam now pe; fos Anaily cleared UD. | ed a cp Oe ag et Sat ata ane