§ 21. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases he has refused applications for visas to enter, and applications for extensions of visas to stay in, the United Kingdom in the last twelve months.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeApplications for United Kingdom visas were refused in some 1,700 cases in 1954. It would not be practicable to maintain a statistical record of the cases in which the extension of an alien's stay in this country are refused.
§ 22. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date Mr. Jaromir Chudy applied for a visa to enter the United Kingdom; for what period a visa has been granted; and on what grounds.
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeUnder an agreement made last year with the Government of the German Federal Republic, Germans holding valid Federal Republic passports may visit the United Kingdom, without the necessity of previously obtaining a visa, for a period not exceeding three months. Mr. Chudy, who came here for a short visit on 15th July and 545 left on 18th July, was in possession of such a passport and consequently did not require a visa.
§ Mr. SwinglerIs it not a fact that this gentleman is still of Czechoslovak nationality and that it should have been necessary for him to have a visa? In view of the fact that quite a number of decent and reputable citizens are refused entry into this country for political reasons, and in view of the importance of maintaining an honest and humane approach to the problem of British-born wives abroad, was it not highly undesirable that this ex-Nazi, convicted of war crimes, should have come here mainly for the purpose of malicious atrocity-mongering?
§ Major Lloyd-GeorgeThe hon. Gentleman has gone a little beyond what he asked me. I do not think I could deal with all those points. I must come back to my answer. Under the agreement made, if Mr. Chudy was in possession of a German Federal Republic passport no visa was required. He was in possession of such a passport, and nothing more could be done about it.