§
Motion made, and Question proposed,
That a Supplementary sum, not exceeding £180,300, be granted to His Majesty, to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1946, for expenditure in respect of public buildings overseas.
§ Mr. Driberg (Maldon)I hope my right hon. Friend who is in charge of this Estimate will be able to throw a little light 1125 on one item in it. Under Subhead A, relating to "New Works," Item 6 is "the acquisition of additional land adjoining the Embassy in Athens," which is going to cost us £39,000. This is the most expensive of all the items listed under this Subhead and comparison with the other items show that it is not for works to be done or buildings to be built or anything like that but simply for the acquisition of additional land. A sum of £39,000 seems to be quite a lot of money to pay for a bit of land in Athens at this moment. Somebody must be making quite a good thing out of it. We do not want unreasonably large sums of our public money to be poured into the pockets of Greek landowners and I hope my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works will be able to throw just a little light on this point.
§ The Minister of Works (Mr. Tomlinson)I had hoped that on this, the last Vote to be taken to-night, I would have received the very modest amounts we are asking for, almost without question and answer. It is true that the amount asked for under Item 6, Subhead A, deals with the acquisition of additional land adjoining the Embassy in Athens. Our information is that it is necessary to acquire this land, in order that the amenities of the Embassy and the dignity of our station there may be upheld. It is true that the land appears to be dear, but there are other places where land acquired in order to maintain amenities is dear also. I can assure the hon. Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) that I have looked into this item carefully and if this land could be obtained for less money we would do so.
§ Mr. Eden (Warwick and Leamington)I hope the Minister is not going to complain if we comment a little on these figures, which show a very high increase on the original figure—something like 15 per cent. Personally, I welcome the increase very much and the only object I have in intervening is to say so. I welcome it with the more enthusiasm because I think I am responsible for a good deal of it myself, but not in regard to the land at Athens. I am conscious that the office buildings at Athens, as at many Embassies abroad, are quite inadequate by modern standards and if this sum is for construction of new offices in Athens, where they are at present underground, 1126 it is high time it was done. This work of the present Ministry and their predecessors is worthy and I hope they will maintain similar standards elsewhere. I hope some day to have the opportunity of saying the same thing about the Foreign Office itself.
§ Resolutions to be reported To-morrow; Committee to sit again To-morrow.