§ 44. Mr. Gallacherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will consider withdrawing the present ambassador in Warsaw and replacing him by someone who will make social contacts more in keeping with the policy of the Labour Government.
Mr. McNeilI do not consider as valid the reasons for which the hon. Member would like to see a change of Ambassadors in Warsaw.
§ Mr. GallacherIs it not the case that the Ambassador represents the Minister, and am I to understand that the social contacts which this Ambassador is making are the social contacts after which the Minister is hankering?
Mr. McNeilIndeed not. Any representative of His Majesty's Government must maintain contacts with all sections of the community, both Right and Left, and, in this case, His Majesty's Government were guilty of no offence.
§ Mr. Quintin HoggWould it not be desirable that our policy in relation to Warsaw should conform to our policy in relation to Madrid?
§ Major Guy LloydWould the right hon. Gentleman explain what he meant by the use of the words "Indeed not"? Surely, he meant what he said later— that, whatever friends and contacts His Majesty's Ambassador had, the Government were also behind them? What did the right hon. Gentleman mean by "Indeed not"?
Mr. McNeilI took it that the assumption behind the supplementary question asked by the hon. Member for West Fife (Mr. Gallacher) was that His Majesty's Government should disapprove of these-contacts of His Majesty's Ambassador in Warsaw, and I made it plain that, if such contacts were confined to one section of the population, he would be failing in his duty. His duty is to establish wide contacts.