§ 36. Mr. Thurtleasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will now reveal the nature of the information obtained from Rudolf Hess when he arrived uninvited in this country in 1940.
§ Mr. BevinMy hon. Friend will recall that a very full statement on the views expressed by Hess and the information obtained from him on his arrival in this country was made to the House by the right hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Eden) on 22nd September, 1943. I have nothing at present to add to that statement.
§ Mr. ThurtleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that that statement did not disclose the real essence of the message which was brought to this country, and, as the right hon. Gentleman believes in open diplomacy, will he not, at least, lay this card on the table face upwards?
§ Mr. BevinI should have thought that, if there is any other evidence to come out which has not been revealed already, there is a very good opportunity to bring it out at Nuremberg.
§ Mr. StokesMay I ask the Foreign Secretary whether he is aware that the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Eden) stated at the time that we could not reveal that evidence? Is there any reason why this secrecy should now continue, and will the right hon. Gentleman say what it is?
§ Mr. GallacherAnd give us Ramsay's book, too.
§ Mr. BevinI must confess that, apart from reading the statement, I have not had time to go back over the whole of the documents since this Question was put down, but I am convinced that, if there is anything else to be brought before the court, now is the time, when the whole thing can be revealed. I have no objection.
§ Mr. EdenIs it not a fact that all the information the right hon. Gentleman has has already been given? If my recollection is in any way inaccurate, would it not be desirable for it to be given now, anyway?
§ Mr. StokesMay I ask the Foreign Secretary whether he is aware that the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Warwick and Leamington repeatedly refused to give the statement for which I asked?
§ Mr. BevinApparently, I am now cast, not for the role of Foreign Secretary, but for that of referee.
§ Mr. Sydney SilvermanIs it within the recollection of the right hon. Gentleman that, on the occasion to which he refers, I raised the Debate on the Adjournment, and, according to the best of my recollection, the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Warwick and Leamington said that the time had not yet come when he could give us that information? Has not the time come now?
§ Mr. BevinI can only repeat that hon. Members really ought not to ask an already overworked Foreign Secretary to read all this nonsense about Hess, when we are paying, I think, fairly good fees to do it somewhere else.