§ 45. Mr. BRIANTasked the Prime Minister if he will consider the advisability of including a woman as a fully accredited delegate in the Government's delegation to the Assembly of the League of Nations next September at Geneva?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONA woman will be included in the British Delegation to the next Assembly, which will be composed as follows:
§ Delegates:
- The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
- The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
- Sir Cecil Hurst, Legal Adviser to the Foreign Office.
§ Substitute Delegates:
- The Earl of Onslow, Under-Secretary of State for War.
- Sir Edward Hilton Young, M.P.
- Major Walter Elliot, Under-Secretary of State for Scotland.
- Dame Edith Lyttelton.
§ The substitute delegates receive credentials in the same form as the delegates, and, in practice, their functions differ hardly at all.
§ Miss WILKINSONIs it not possible to include a woman as a fully accredited delegate, since the right hon. Gentleman must know perfectly well that a substitute delegate at Geneva has not the same status as a fully accredited delegate would have?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONI think the hon. Ladies are under a misapprehension. Substitute delegates are fully accredited, and, if one of the delegates is absent, a substitute delegate takes the absent delegate's place. They have exactly the same standing.
§ Miss WILKINSONIs it not the case, on the hon. Gentleman's own statement, that while the fully accredited delegates attend and take their part in the proceedings, a substitute delegate is only able to take a full share in the deliberations if a fully accredited delegate is absent? How does the hon. Gentleman reconcile his own statement with his reply?
§ Mr. THURTLEWill the Government see that all delegates sent to represent this country at Geneva are the best delegates possible, irrespective of sex?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONI think the list which I have read out shows that they are. The substitute delegates take a full part in the deliberations. They take their full share. We made a similar arrangement last year, and it was regarded with full satisfaction by all parties concerned.
Viscountess ASTORIs it not true that other countries, Germany for instance, send a woman as a fully-accredited delegate, and not as a substitute?