◆ SpookStack

Liss f sitgcun to trace. They might range throughout the whole body politica: .»>+, Therefore, there must be a sufficient, " sensible and proper investigation into the ! background of those persons who have undertaken the Government's service. j There must be—and 1 was glad to thear the Foreign Secretary say so—these posi- Nive checks, but I wonder whether, in the itive checks that are now made, when Inquiries are made about certain people, answers in writing are obtained, of + whether they are purely oral. That is something which, 1 fee] sure, would add $ further to the investigations which must be made into a person’s background. “.° - We cannot escape the obvious copclu- 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 { 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 £0 prevent them leaving the ports. Why was there no guard on the 2 it really seriously suggested, if somebody had been warding the ports, had been Jooking out for these people and had been warned that they might take it into their heads to try to escape, that when they arrived at Southampton to board the packet for St. Malo and were approached by a security officer and asked their business, they would have been able to march oa board and sail away to St. Malo, having informed the security officer that that was what they intended to do?/ 23° + + + Is it seriously suggested that no pretext could have been made whereby these ple could have been taken back to Bondon and have been required to answer uestions on certain matters of which, by their flight, they had shown they were guilty, and which we now know to be treasonable activities? Surely, the techal- cality of arrest, mentioned by my right hon. Friend, is not in this case a real answer. The real answer was thal no one thought 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 a grave story of incompetence, Lites dis Mr. Speirs Will my hon. Friend aliow me? Is it not the case that only one of these individuals was suspect, and that the other was not under investigation at all? uD? SEE SSE CRORES TERE Weer means: ne weet s matin had ea Former Foreign Office “ 4-NOVEMBER 195S = ai Offcials: pve te fsappearance 1838 Mr. Rawlinson; My point is that, in © ~~ these circumstances, the ports should have -"=4++ been watched. If it was thought that these people might flee, if they were known to have had some association, ... .. these steps should have been taken. +~ oot ++ Mr. Daines: Would not the hom + Gentleman agree that, as the interrogation =~ had been ordered by the Foreign Secrest” tary, even the fact of applying for a week- end pass was suspicious and should have -"- sounded the alarm? , OnE He heer Mr. Rawlinson: 1 agree to this extent, Tf there had been this thorough investiga tion aod one had eventually reached the conclusion that this orao out of some 6,000 should be investigated, then not to ~ ave taken the proper and sensible ta cautions seems to be an incredible piece + «7 == of bungling. « picy5° 257 ateE WS : ++ It fs quite clear. from what has beeg said by some people who scemed to know them or their acquaintances well, that these two persons were people who must ~ at all times have been an extreme risk, Apparently, they had “chips on their shoulders” of various kinds which one © would have thought straightaway would have led their superiors to suspect that ct were ns who were not of suitable ho hold such Texponable jobs, - Our good fortune has been that in the |” | immediate past we have not had persons -. . who have been in control of various pub- lic matters, of in responsible positions, whose Soyalties have not got across the frontiers. My sight hon. Friend the Secre- tary of State said that since 1689 and the wars of religion there bave beeo 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. {0 this House it seems wrong to suggest that; 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 the matter... we mat. : ‘Then after the flight comes the story, ~ which has been adquately dealt with, of the information which was being mm. lied. St seems to me that what must idden is the source of the information or knowledge about what the Government . anay know of Burgess and Maclean—that