§ MR. RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN (Islington, W.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is in a position to give any further information as to the case of Mr. Purdie, arrested by the French police on a false charge, and for several days refused permission to communicate with the British Ambassador?
*MR. J. W. LOWTHERThe French Government have expressed regret for the unfortunate mistake by which Messrs. Purdie and Lockwood have been subjected to serious personal inconvenience; but they maintain at the same time that the police acted with perfect good faith, and that French citizens would have been similarly treated under similar circumstances. With reference to the refusal of the permission to communicate with the British Embassy, further communications are in progress with a view to arriving at an arrangement for similarity of treatment in such cases in the two countries.