HC Deb 22 June 1949 vol 466 cc194-5
32. Major Beamish

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the resignation of Mr. C. G. Bidwell, the head of the British Council in Poland.

Mr. Bevin

Mr. Bidwell joined the British Council in 1943 after being released from the Army to do so, and served with it until his recent defection. From 1946 onwards he was the Council's representative in Poland, and appeared to be discharging his duties competently. In September last he married, under Polish law, a Polish woman who had been employed as a secretary in the private office of General Grosz, the Minister of Information. On 4th June he informed His Majesty's Ambassador that he had sent in his resignation to the Chairman of the Council, that he had become a Polish subject and had renounced British nationality. His resignation has been rejected, and he has been dismissed as from 4th June.

Major Beamish

Was it a cause of surprise to the right hon. Gentleman that Mr. Bidwell, who was known to hold Marxist-Socialist views, should suddenly have the courage of his convictions and become a Communist?