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eeecth sie. wer te of Ab ab te wee et em ; o, te aoe 15: * Forcign Office. -% NOVEMBER: i955 ra er s'oa 7, gee EE, } i R. BROOMAN-Wente.) -.* a ee te tee ? weet ee ‘ «a tere ; - Bart teds & ire 1 pee Gents dee His * el. Fens _: eee rep i oe wots Ral pe. bone é . eo i Lees . oe tae at ns ee seth os, babes Bowe te eer ees © | Ly PES atte als | * . iS FLL e . Lec ce disw mee] st b- ¢ : re fr . “| ; pet va gt ee. ps Spare aq iereca pts oes ‘e all know roughly what happens when there is a Government inquiry. The Department under investigation starts reparations to defend itself against the \estigation to show that it has not done bo badly after all. We all know that. We have seen it happen in various Govern ment Depariments. A great number of people start spending their time preparing to give evidence and to answer questions, And in order to do that they have to sta " getting on with the day to day iob which they should be doing, > - a. : I entirely agree with everything that bas been said on both sides of the House a5 to the need to give adequate facilities and the best possible personnel to the security services.. 1 do not think that because they have failed to make an arrest in this case there are adequate Srounds for an inquiry, which can do no other than impede their day-to-day work. This is not justified unless there is, over ‘the whole field, a feeling that they ace failing down on their job. That feeling cannot be found in this House or in the popular Press. - = . Mr. Daines : On that point, did the hon. Gentleman read a very interesting article in the “ Observer” a week or two ago by a man who was a Russian espionage agent, according to the article, against Germany until 1947. He pointed out that the withdrawal of these men to Russia . was quite contrary to the usual Russian ractice, and he therefore suggested tha was because of fear of interrogation and break down and of information being . given that they took that action. if that 48 $0. Surely it is a very important reason for an inquiry to be held? 6. °“* Mr, Brooman-White: 3 do not agree that that follows. I said that we scored a near miss. It bears out my point that 3a had we had these people in time it would . have been a great success. Let us see - this thing in proportion. Pe . Foam not concerned to protect the Becurity services against the inquiry. I + am only concerned to see that we do not Jose more in trying to create efficie ~ than we gain. ¢ Soviet services wit whom the Western services are in com- Petition, have great advantages. On the Tepressive side, they have the full “machinery of a police state. On the offensive side, they have the system of a Bation which sets the greatest virtue on ot fe we ae eee ee a ’ . ar Officials—Disoppeararee’ 1586 under-cover work. ~ Their‘ national heroes of the past were all men who, in Lenin's phrase, had “To know hunger, work Hiceally, and be anonymous.”- All their thinking is geared 10 that sort of thi at gives them an advantage, The Understand that son of work, Intelligence services probably have much - more moncy and resources than our ey Reels: i quite frequently, rg and bloodletting. which must be just about as debilitating as medieval medi cine. To knock off Chief of Secret Police and his various assistants may be good for promotion, bui it cannot fead to the efficient func. tioning of the Department. Unless 2 very - strong case is made, 1 am not of messing around jn a similar though milder way in that Depariment of our own against whom there is no solid ground for suspecting that on balance it ig not doing fairly well. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary paid the Security Services an eloquent tribute and only be and the Chiefs of Staff and « few others are in s position to sce the pic- fure as a whole and to measure the successes it has been achieving, + s+: in favour - Let_me pass to the second’ point. During their undergraduate days, these men had Communist associates. There is no crime in that. Indeed, the only thing that has been proved against Mr. Philby is that he bad Burgess staying with him and he had certain Communist friends. He may not have been very wise in his choice of friends, but what hon. Member of this House could say that all his friends were people against whom no shadow of suspicion could ever be cast? - That point bas been adequately dealt With, m2. 8s seontf-e gut toes wheal 1 should fike to come to the question of the staffing of the Foreign ce dee partments and the question, which has a cogently argued from both sides of of the House, as to whether at this stage there is a case for further investigation and reform of the Foreign Office admini- stralive machine, J] think it was the hon, Member for Hammersmith, North (Mr. Tomney) who said that there was public Imeéasiness because there was a ocling that the personal judgment of the senior members of the Foreign Office had been at fault. ecm cence erp 4 - wt at uw we PAS a: But they have a weakness. Periodically, they indulge in purges . the heads of the Soviet - “ty