HC Deb 16 December 1943 vol 395 cc1668-9
22. Mr. Driberg

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the improvement in the national fortunes and the present conditions of security, he is considering the early release of the hon. and gallant Member for Peebles and Southern (Captain Ramsay)?

Mr. H. Morrison

No, Sir, I am not at present able to give the hon. Member's Question a favourable answer; but this and other cases will be reviewed from time to time in the light of the circumstances then obtaining, and I shall, of course, be willing to take into consideration any representations which the hon. Member may desire to make on behalf of the detainee in question.

Mr. Driberg

In any review of this case, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that he could hardly attach to the release of a member of this House the same restrictions on speech and publication as are imposed on Sir Oswald Mosley, and also that the hon. and gallant Member admitted in the witness box having used the machinery of this House to spread Nazi propaganda?

Mr. Morrison

All relevant considerations will be kept in mind, including the fact that he is a Member of Parliament.

Mr. Edmund Harvey

Will my right hon. friend also bear in mind the very great hardship caused to the constituency of the hon. and gallant Member, which has been in effect disfranchised for this long period?

Mr. Morrison

Certainly. But my primary consideration, as my hon. friend will appreciate, must be the security of the State.

Captain W. T. Shaw

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the reference to spreading Nazi propaganda was to the fact that the hon. and gallant Member used this House to advertise the wave-lengths of the German propaganda, and is he aware that at that time "The Times" newspaper was advertising those wavelengths every day?

Mr. Morrison

I do not think I had better enter into the details.

Major Stourton

Is my right hon. friend aware that it is derogatory to the dignity of this honourable House and utterly at variance with its traditions that a Member of it should be imprisoned for more than three years without trial? Will my right hon. Friend undertake the necessary action?

Mr. Morrison

That point was dealt with by the Committee of Privileges.