65. Mr. Driberģasked the Secretary of State for War why men in the 5th Parachute Brigade, S.E.A.C., have been instructed that no discussion of the political aspect of their mission in Indonesia is allowed; that the writing of letters to the brigade newspaper, expressing concern at the abandonment of British neutrality in the Dutch-Indonesian dispute, is a breach of discipline and that the British purpose in Indonesia is to reinstate the sovereign Dutch power; and if he will instruct those concerned that the primary purposes of British intervention in Indonesia were the recovery of prisoners, and the disarming of the Japanese and that impartiality as between Dutch and Indonesian claims should be maintained, particularly during the present negotiations on the subject of Indonesian independence.
Mr. BellenģerI am making inquiries and as soon as they are completed I will write to my hon. Friend.