§ 26. Mr. HUME-WILLIAMSasked the-Home Secretary whether he will state the circumstances which led to Mrs. Burnyeat's internment and her subsequent release; also if he can state under what conditions Mrs. Burnyeat is allowed to reside at Harrogate; and if he can give the name of the competent military authority who advised Mrs. Burnyeat's release, and on what grounds and at whose request this advice was tendered?
Mr. SAMUELI do not think it is desirable in the public interest to state the circumstances which led to Mrs. Burnyeat's internment. I mentioned the circumstances which led to her release in a written answer to a question by the hon. Member for Chippenham on the 3rd August, and would repeat that she was released temporarily at the end of April when her husband was gravely ill. After his death, in view of the medical evidence as to the state of her health, I decided, with the concurrence of the competent military authority on whose recommendation she was interned, to allow her to reside at Harrogate. Her release is conditional on her observing all the restrictions which apply to alien enemies, and certain further stringent conditions as to her movements, correspondence, etc. The military authority in question was the competent military authority appointed to deal with such cases at the War Office, but the responsibility for the decision to release her rests with me.
§ Mr. HUME-WILLIAMSDid she have residing with her for a considerable period a German woman who has since been tried, convicted and sentenced as a German spy, and under the circumstances if her health cannot stand internment does the right hon. Gentleman not think it is a case in which she might reasonably be deported and sent to her friends in Germany?