HC Deb 16 February 1948 vol 447 cc833-7 The following Question stood upon the Order Paper in the name of Mr. DRIBERG: 71. To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of the mischief done to British prestige in the U.S.A. by a broadcast delivered in Canada by the hon. Member for South Edinburgh (Sir W. Darling) deprecating the efforts of the British Government and people to overcome their post-war difficulties and alleging that human standards have been degraded in Great Britain and if, in view of the fact that the text of this broadcast has been printed in full in the U S. Congressional Record and thence reprinted for widespread distribution in the U.S., he will instruct the British Information Services in the U.S. to issue as widely as possible a factual account of the achievements of the British people since the end of the war
Major Sir David Maxwell Fyfe

On a point of Order. Would it be possible for an answer to be given to Question No. 71, Mr. Speaker, as it raises a matter which affects personally a Member of this House?

Mr. Speaker

Yes, I think the Question ought to be disposed of today. I do not think it would be a good thing if the Question remained on the Order Paper so that it got a written answer, or was postponed. I agree with the right hon. and learned Gentleman.

Mr. McNeil

rose—

Sir William Darling

On a point of Order. May I ask your guidance, Mr. Speaker? I submitted a Question of a similar character regarding a speech made by an hon. Member of this House in Canada, and I was informed at the Table that the Question was not in Order, as the Minister concerned had no responsibility for what a Member of Parliament said in Canada.

Mr. Speaker

Perhaps we had better have the answer to the Question first. I may have a word or two to say later about the nature of these Questions.

Mr. McNeil

In answer to the Question put by my hon. Friend the Member for Maldon (Mr. Driberg) I can assure him that British Information Services put out a continuous stream of factual material giving an accurate and impressive picture of the achievements of the British people since the end of the war.

Mr. Driberg

Would my right hon. Friend convey to the British Information Services that they should issue a strong repudiation of the statements made in this very damaging broadcast, since it is being distributed widely in America?

Mr. McNeil

I do not want to convey the impression that I am unsympathetic to the tenor of my hon. Friend's worries, but I should think it much better that the British Information Services should confine themselves to the facts, which are the best reply to any inaccurate or contentious speech.

Sir W. Darling

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the statement made in the Question is inaccurate? The broadcast referred to was not delivered in Canada, but in New York. Is he of the opinion that it would be honest on the part of a British Member of Parliament, or helpful to the prestige of the British people, to assert that all was well with Great Britain?

Mr. McNeil

I have read the broadcast given by the hon. Gentleman. Several of my American friends took the trouble to send it to me personally. I cannot pretend that I enjoyed it, or thought it impressive, and I must say that the hon. Gentleman does not look too bad an advertisement for the 1s. worth of meat about which he was so contentious.

Lord John Hope

The Minister himself will no doubt deal with the bad taste of the last part of the reply he has just given, but what I wish to ask him is this; is there any evidence at all that this broadcast has damaged British prestige in the United States, and does he not think it is extremely likely that the presence of my hon. Friend the Member for South Edinburgh (Sir W. Darling) anywhere abroad would create nothing but confidence?

Mr. Speaker

I think it would be just as well if I intervened here for a moment. This Question was one which gave me a great deal of anxiety, because it is very nearly outside the Rules of the House. I suggest that if a Member wants to draw attention to a broadcast made by another Member he should put a Question in an impersonal way, and not associate it with any particular Member, because if he does so it means that supplementaries are almost bound to become personal attacks on the Member. A Member should put down a Motion on the Order Paper, or should put down a Question in general terms. It is not quite in accordance with the traditions of this House for one Member to pick up a speech of another Member, and make an attack on the Floor of the House. He should only do that on general grounds.

Mr. Driberg

Might I, with great respect, ask you, Sir, whether what you have said would cover equally the case of the Question put down by the noble Lord the Member for Horsham (Earl Winterton) some weeks ago, referring to the hon. Member for Maldon?

Mr. Speaker

I have not got that Question in my head, so I cannot say. I dislike Questions which refer personally to hon. Members, because they are apt to lead to personal back-chat between one side and the other, which is not quite in accordance with the dignity of the House.

Mr. Driberg

Then would you, Mr. Speaker, be good enough to convey that to the noble Lord—the Father of the House?

Mr. K. Lindsay

Reverting to the matter in the Question, is the Minister, aware that there were speeches being made at that time by Members on both sides of the House? Is it not true that the British Information Services are doing a first-class job, and that if Members wish to make speeches it is up to them? It is a question of principle.

Mr. McNeil

The hon. Gentleman no doubt noticed that in my original reply I tried to make it plain that I relied on the British Information Services. If I erred beyond good taste I hope you will agree, Mr. Speaker, that the hon. Gentleman opposite did nothing to pacify me.

Mr. Haire

Would you give a Ruling, Mr. Speaker, that, traditionally, it is accepted that it is not a matter of Parliamentary decorum for an hon. Member of this House to attack His Majesty's Government when abroad?

Mr. Speaker

I cannot give a Ruling of that kind. Members are responsible for what they say. Often, broadcasts in this country go abroad, and perhaps that kind of Ruling would cover the broadcast of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Woodford (Mr. Churchill) on Saturday. In accordance with our Parliamentary and democratic practice we always allow people to say, on the wireless, what they think of the Government.

Mr. Churchill

On a point of Order. May I, with great respect, ask you, Sir, why it was necessary to drag me in in this way?

Mr. Speaker

I do not think that I was dragging in the right hon. Gentleman. The hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Haire) asked me whether I would rule that Members should refrain from attacking the Government when making speeches abroad. I said I could not give a Ruling on that, because it might apply when Members attacked the Government on the wireless in this country. I gave, as an illustration, the right hon. Gentleman's broadcast on Saturday, which I thought was quite a good illustration.

Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

Would it not be an excellent thing, Mr. Speaker, if every Member of this House followed the example of the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Woodford (Mr. Churchill) in never attacking the Government of his own country when overseas?

Mr. Churchill

indicated assent.

Sir W. Darling

Might I be allowed to say that I did not seek this publicity? I made a speech in my private capacity, and the President of the United States Senate was asked by Senator Albert W. Hawkes, whom I do not know, for permission to print what he thought was a speech of value in the Senate Record. With that I concurred.

Mr. Speaker

I think we had better end this discussion now.