§ 11. Lord ROBERT CECILasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what were the terms of the Note sent to the Soviet in the beginning of December on the subject of Mrs. Stan Harding's wrongful imprisonment in Moscow?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. Cecil Harmsworth)In their Note to the Soviet Government of 2nd December, His Majesty's Government drew attention to the unsatisfactory nature of the Soviet Government's reply in regard to Mrs. Stan Harding's claim. The British Representative in Moscow was instructed to inform the-Soviet Government that unless a satisfactory reply was forthcoming within a reasonable period, His Majesty's Government would be compelled to make public the whole correspondence. The reply of the Soviet Government has just been received, in which it declines to consider Mrs. Harding's claim without putting forward counter-claims in respect of Russian citizens who are alleged to have suffered wrongful imprisonment at the hands of British authorities. In these circumstances, as His Majesty's Government cannot admit any counterclaims as having any relation to the claim of Mrs. Harding, it has been decided to make public the facts.