◆ SpookStack

Soa re a ae ‘oie a t sitgeul to trace. They might range throughout the whole body politics +... . Therefore, there must be a sufficient, "sensible and proper investigation into the background of those persons who have ‘undertaken the Goveroment’s service. j There must be—and I was glad to thear the Foreign Secretary say so—these posi- tive checks, but I wonder whether, in the positive checks that are now made, when ate inquiries are made about certain people, « whether they are t further tn the are obtained, of purely oral. That is something which, I feel sure, would add inuvaectt tgattons awhin rrirnet surtnes SS ee aEVESLIB SS aT Be te it =e answers in writing : be made into a person's background. *: | = re a wt _— a - ee s - - a aoe 2 cee oe a ees ere ee ~ . . a wee a al a we erp.” i nd 6 a Se “ meen A Ee - a - s - - Be ee .. - + oe - an ® we Te mre oer ‘fen = > Sd, Sees eee faye et + ee - a opr we - We cannot escape the obvious conclu- sion that this is a story of incompetence. The law has been mentioned on several occasions, and it has been stated that there is no law by which these people could have been prevented from leaving the couftry. It was said by the hon. Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Cross- man) that there was no law 40 prevent them jeaving the ports. Why was ihere no guard on the is? it really seriously suggested, if somebody had been uarding the ports, had been looking out for these people and had been warned that they might take it into their heads fo try to escape, that when they arrived at Southampion to board the 25 by for St Malo and were approac by a security officer and asked their Suteee they would have been able to march on board and sail aw ay 10 St. Malo, having informed the security officer that that was what they intended to do? =) + + +. Is it seriously ‘sugested that no pretext could have been made whereby these ple could have been taken back to Pondon and have been required to answer uestions on certain matters of which, by eir flight, they had shown they were guilty. and which we now know to be treasonable activities? Surely, the techoi- cality of arrest, mentioned by my right hon. Friend, is not in this case a real answer. The real answer was thal no one though: that these men were going to flee. It was thought that security had been such that these men were not aware of what was happening. It was . grave story of incompetence. rt ot we Me. Speir: Will my hon. Friend allow me? Is it not the case that only one of these individuale wae cucnect, and that the ie Te Seep wns Sone other was not under investigation at all? no? weal mo eeee te Same ee meet Former Office 4. NOVEMBER 19 1958 a. Mr, Rawtinson: My point is that, ia © ~~” se ket *. ant pmatacemrnemioninie sia P appearance “as these circumstances, the ports should have been watched. If it was thought that these people might flee, these steps should have been taken. :-,-., + Mr. Dalnes: Would not the hoa: Gentleman agree that, as the interrogation had been ordered by the Foreign Secres= tary, even the fact of applying for a week- end pass was suspicious and should have 11 St He ahhh ree nore sounded the alarm? _ |... Mr. Rawfinson: I agree to this extent. If there had been this thorough investiga- ‘tion and one had eventually reached the - conclusion that this otaa out of some 6,000 should be investigated, then not to. have taken the proper and sensible caulions seems 10 be an incredible Plog #6 = " of bungling. «6 pic75° 520 ate Ue : It is quite ‘clear, from what has bees said by some these two persons were people who must © at all times have been an extreme risk.” Apparent! ly. they had “chips on their shoulders would have thought straightaway would have led their superiors to suspect that they were persons who were fot pr Our good fortune has been that in the immediate past we have not had persons who have been i in contro) of various pub- lic matters, of in responsible positions, whose Joyalties have not got across the frontiers. My right hon. Friend the Secre- tary of State said that since 1689 and the -:---- wars of religion there bave been no such circumstances; but in fact there have been. In the history of our relations with < Ireland there were persons such as |. Erskine Childers. There always have © been, and always will be, people whose loyalties conflict, who do not put patriot- ism as the highest of loyalties. In this House it because it is only a new phenomena, - people might in fact be putting disloyalty — ahead of patriotism, and that the security people were not in fact aware of. Whe nei. matics. . re an : Then ‘afier the fight ‘comes the story, which has been adquately dealt with, of the information which was being su lied. I¢ seems to me that what must idden is the source of the information or knowledge about what the Government may} know of of Burgess aad Maclean—that .. ome ala if they were - known to have had some association, x ple who scemed to know ~ them of their acquaintances well, that - of various kinds which one ~ Oper - of suitable to hold such responsible jobs. -- seems wrong to suggest that: “ee. 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