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ae me" 1899 (ore Fo Saterruption} _.. The + EMr. Ropensy 6 sersic-- 07 added to today, except that the Foreign Secretary termed them “traitors.” and that it bas become clear that they are behind the Iron Curtain, and, presumably, Working for a foreign Government... ‘The Foreign Secretary said he accepted the doctrine of Ministerial responsibitily, and none of us would want to depart from that doctrine, but the doctrine of Ministeria) responsibility. to be accepied fo the full, presupposes that it is the duty Of Ministers’ advisers—and that it should have-been the duty of Ministers’ advisers in the past-to keep Ministers informed of what it is importans they should know, It is strange that the Security Services can have investigated 6,000 suspects and yet the Girst time my right hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, South, who Was then the Foreign Secretary, knew any- thing about this was on the very day laclean and Burgess left this country. *- 1 say there is something wrong about & security system that works within » vacuum and works without some con- sideration of the responsibilities of its pelitical chief. About 6,000 suspects were ing dealt with over a fong period. Therefore, it seems to me that the Secre- tary of State should have been informed # very long time before that that this investigation was going on. eat T agree entirely with my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry, East (Mr. Crossman) when he says that Burgess and Maclean as such are pot important agy Jonger. What is important is the Sessons fo Jearned from them. Two thin emerge. One is the question of esta fishment within the Foreign Office. i does not matter what the oreign Secre- fay may have said earlier today, o¢ indeed what the Prime Minister will say Tater, the fact is that the public and many People in the House are quite sure that within the Foreiga Office there is @ close circle of “cover up™ for one's friends. .. Mr. Nutting indicated dissent. : Mr. Robens : The right hon. Gentleman shakes his head. but if that is not the case how can it be that a couple of drunks, 9 couple of homosexuals well-known in the City, could for so long occupy important posts in the Forcign Office? There is no commercial organisation anywhere that would not have fired them years aga. Prime’ Minister “UF at wee uDs ~ 2 NOVEMBER 195. Offctels—Disappedraie® 1600 appears to be asking who put them there. - - ¢ right hon. Gentleman is making a mistake in turning this into a political arty issue. Maclean went into the - ‘oreign Office in 1935. This is nots, question of when these people were engaged. This is a question of the estab- lishment of the Foreign Office, because the Prime Minister does not make Appointments. )..¢ prem a The Foreign Secretary does not mal all these appointments. The appoi Ments are recommended to Ministers on = the basis of the advice of their adviser’ ‘The Minister does not go through the list and say, “We will now promote Jack Jones as head of the Department.” He takes advice. ¥ repeat that there is a fedl: ing in the House and among the public outside that there is this “cover up” within the Forcign Office and £ say this is a maticr which ought to be investigated. - |, i Mr. Nutting indicated di . Mr. Robens: man gocs oa shaking his head. Let us have a look at Maclean and at one incident in Cairo... ore te Wee What happened? What does the White Paper say happened? It says “In May, 1950, while serving Majesty's Embassy, «mG His Cairo, Maclean was guilly of serious misconduct and suffered a form of breakdown which was attributed to overwork ang excessive drinking” | sy ure) Cet What are the facts about one case? [ will not deal with all of them—about 9 Bight that he had with an Egyptian guard, about the breaking of an Embassy col- Jeague's leg on a boating trip, tsce 47 Maclean and a friend, both* drunken state, went into the flat of a girl who was the librarian of the United States . Embassy in Cairo, She was absent. They forced their way in and then began to dink all that was available. Having done that, they pushed a fot of the girl's clothing down the lavatory, they smashed the table and they knocked into the bath a heavy slab of marble fixed as a shelf over the radiator, I broke the bath They returned to a flat in thé same build- ing belonging to a colleague. Maclean was with a man friend, and he had homo- Sexval tendencies when in drink. You! ~" As the Minister of State shook his head, 1 am now giving the facts. As k was” saying, they returned to the fiat belonging fiw ae . S eticuaiiel re Rp t teas, The fight hon. Gentle: "FF