HC Deb 06 November 1945 vol 415 cc1086-7
63. Mr. Driberg

asked the Minister of Information whether Mr. P. H. G. Dorchy is still employed at His Majesty's Consulate-General in Barcelona as Press Attaché or in any other official capacity.

The Minister of Information (Mr. E. J. Willams)

Mr. Dorchy is still employed as Press Attaché at His Majesty's Consulate-General in Barcelona.

Mr. Driberg

Without casting any reflection at all on the ability or character of this gentleman, may I ask my right hon. Friend if he is aware that this gentleman served in Franco's artillery during the civil war and holds strong pro-Falangist and pro-Fascist views; and is it suitable that a man with such views should be an interpreter of British policy?

Mr. Williams

My answer to that is that he has served the Ministry for five years in Europe and, as far as I can ascertain, he has served the Ministry satisfactorily.

Mr. Vernon Bartlett

Is my right hon. Friend aware that, whatever Mr. Dorchy's past may be, in the war he has been instrumental in bringing a great number of British prisoners of war across the Pyrenees and in keeping them out of Franco's gaols when they reached Spain?