§ Mr. CAPE(by Private Notice) asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that William Ellison, a British subject, employed as a chemist in Italy, has been sentenced by a Florence tribunal to eight months' imprisonment and fined £15 under a new law for using offensive words about the Italian Prime Minister; whether Ellison was defended by counsel commissioned by the British Consulate; and whether representations to mitigate this sentence can be made to the Italian authorities in view of the fact that this appears to have been the first case since the passing of the new Act?
§ Mr. DIXEYI should also like to ask the same question, and as this man is a very reputable constituent of mine I would like to know whether the Under-Secretary has already taken any steps to deal with the matter?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Mr. G. Locker-Lampson)My information on the subject is at present confined to accounts contained in the Press, but His Majesty's Ambassador at Rome has been instructed by telegraph to furnish a report. Until that report is received it is impossible for me to reply to the further points raised in the hon. Members' questions.