HC Deb 12 December 1956 vol 562 cc416-7
22. Mr. Zilliacus

asked the Minister of Defence why, at the outset of the Suez crisis, Her Majesty's Government requested the French Government to concur in postponing military action in the Suez Canal area for 60 days.

Mr. Birch

I have been asked to reply.

Her Majesty's Government made no such request to the French Government.

Mr. Zilliacus

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the French Minister of Defence, M. Bourgès-Maunoury, on 20th November said that such a request had been received at the end of July and that the French Government thereupon agreed to delay military action which they wished to undertake at once. Will the right hon. Gentleman please see that he and his French accomplices tell the same story?

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