§ 65. Mr. DAYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many times during the past five years has an appeal been made to him to assist in securing the release of British subjects who have joined the French Foreign Legion; and will he give particulars of any action he has taken and with what result?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Viscount Cranborne)During the past five years the Foreign Office have been approached on 16 occasions in the sense indicated. In five cases there were no grounds for making representations to the French authorities and the applicants were informed accordingly. In the remaining 11 cases representations were made to the French authorities by His Majesty's Embassy in Paris. In two of these cases His Majesty's Embassy were informed that there were no grounds on which the persons in question could be released; 811 and in two further cases the persons concerned escaped from the Legion while inquiries were being pursued. In the remaining seven cases the representations made by His Majesty's Government were successful, in five cases because the person in question had enlisted while under the minimum age of 18, or, being between the ages of 18 and 20, without his parents' consent. In two cases release was granted on medical grounds.
§ Mr. A. BEVANIs the Under-Secretary aware that it is now easier to get Englishmen out of the Foreign Legion than out of the British Army?