HC Deb 19 November 1951 vol 494 cc31-2
The Prime Minister (Mr. Winston Churchill)

I desire, Mr. Speaker, with your permission, to make a statement. The Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe will meet at Strasbourg on 26th November. I have appointed 18 delegates from the United Kingdom. The distribution of the appointments between the parties is nine Members of the Conservative Party, eight Members of the Labour Party, and a representative of the Liberal Party. The appointments of the Labour and Liberal representatives have, of course, been made on the basis of nominations by the leaders of those parties.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Major Sir D. Maxwell Fyfe), the Secretary of State for the Home Department, will be the head of the delegation. My hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northwich (Mr. J. Foster) will be the deputy head.

The others will be: from the Conservative Party, my hon. Friends the Members for Preston, North (Mr. J. Amery), Aberdeenshire, East (Mr. Boothby), Armagh (Mr. Harden), Devizes (Mr. Hollis), Lancaster (Mr. F. Maclean), Windsor (Mr. Mott-Radclyffe), and Aberdeen, South (Lady Tweedsmuir).

From the Labour Party, the right hon. Gentlemen the Members for Belper (Mr. G. Brown), Colne Valley (Mr. Glenvil Hall) and Smethwick (Mr. Gordon Walker), and the hon. Gentlemen the Members for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mr. G. Darling), Lincoln (Mr. de Freitas), Hull, Central (Captain Hewitson), Edinburg, Leith (Mr. Hoy) and Faversham (Mr. P. Wells).

From the Liberal Party, the noble Lord, Lord Layton.

Substitutes have been appointed to act for the delegates when they are absent from Strasbourg.

Sir Herbert Williams

Can my right hon. Friend say whether these delegates have had any instructions, or will they merely express their private views at Strasbourg?

The Prime Minister

In this as in so many things there is a happy combination of private views and national or party politics.