§ 46. Mr. Stokesasked the Prime Minister whether he has considered a memorandum from the Polish community in London regarding the restoration of freedom in Poland, the massacre of Poles in the Katyn Forest and the continued detention of many thousands of Poles in prisons and concentration camps in Poland and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and what representations he made on these matters to Marshal Bulganin and Mr. Khrushchev during their recent visit to this country.
§ 47. Mr. Warbeyasked the Prime Minister what discussions he had with the Soviet statesmen regarding the international regulation of the supply of arms to the Middle East countries.
§ The Prime MinisterI do not wish to depart from the Answer I gave on Tuesday to the right hon. and learned Member 594 for Rowley Regis and Tipton (Mr. A. Henderson) and the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Emrys Hughes).
§ Mr. StokesDoes the Prime Minister recognise that the people who made these representations were for the most part our gallant allies during the war, and that they feel they were ratted upon, both at Teheran and Yalta? Does he not feel that it is quite intolerable that they should find that their friends and relations are locked up in Poland without trial and that, therefore, the strongest possible representations should be made?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is really a question of what one wants. If one wants to put one's representations on record, that can always be done. If, on the other hand, one wants results, it is perhaps better to treat the matter differently. I really ask the House to believe that. I should like to take this opportunity to say—and I must say it—that the Government have no responsibility at all for lists which have appeared in certain newspapers. We cannot take that responsibility. More than that I am not prepared to say.
§ Mr. MaclayCan my right hon. Friend give any information about the amnesty in Poland, about which reports have begun to appear in recent days?
§ The Prime MinisterWe have heard from our Embassy in Warsaw, and I understand that the position there is that an amnesty law providing for the remission and reduction of sentences for crimes against the State is before the Polish Parliament. I also understand from our Ambassador's report that the effect of this list will be that some 80,000 people now in prison, of whom 9,000 are political prisoners, will benefit. Of the 30,000 to be released at once, 4,500 are political prisoners. If anything of that kind should occur, it would receive a welcome, I know, from all parts of the House.
§ Mr. WarbeyOn the different subject of Question No. 47, as the joint Anglo-Russian statement on the maintenance of peace in the Middle East was probably the most important and valuable outcome of the London talks, will the Prime Minister say whether he is actively pursuing the suggestion thrown out by Mr. Khrushchev at his Press conference for 595 a collective agreement for the stopping of the supply of all arms shipments to the countries in the Middle East?
§ The Prime MinisterThat is obviously a question of the greatest complexity, concerning not only us but a great many other Powers. What has been agreed is that the United Nations should be supported in its efforts to resolve this trouble, and I think it is something if everybody will join in doing that. If everybody joins in doing it, we may have a chance of getting a truce which is reality, and then negotiations, which we have both undertaken to assist. That is the first step. As regards what may be done about the arms, that is a matter also, so far as we are concerned, that could well be discussed in the same forum.
§ Mr. GaitskellTo return to the question of the list, details of which have appeared in at least one newspaper this morning, is that a list which the Prime Minister handed to the Soviet Ministers? If so, was its being made public an act by the Government? If not, is this not a very serious leakage?
§ The Prime MinisterI thought I had made quite clear that the Government have no responsibility whatever for that list—none at all—and still less, of course, for its publication. I personally regret it very much, for the reasons that I have already given. I am not prepared to say whether anything was done about a list by us—I am sorry, but I am not. As regards where the list could come from, the right hon. Gentleman can, no doubt, draw his own conclusions about that. He knows that there are a number of organisations in this country who produce these lists. Whether the list came from them or not, I do not know. I am not indicting anybody. All I can say is that the list did not come from the Government.
§ Mr. GaitskellCan we have this absolutely clear? Will the Prime Minister state definitely that no information on this question—and information was provided, I think, before today, or appeared in the newspapers—came from any Government source whatever?
§ The Prime MinisterNone that I am aware of, and my noble Friend who is at the Foreign Office says that he knows of none. I am not interested in making 596 any kind of issue out of this business except to try to get a result. I do not care in the least about any list at all, nor about parties, dinners or anything else. I want to make this clear: I was only sorry to see the list because I did not think it would help.
§ Mr. ShinwellWhile appreciating the right hon. Gentleman's desire not to make an issue of this, and while at the same time welcoming his interest in the matter, may I ask if he can make some inquiry to find out, if at all possible, how the Manchester Guardian succeeded in obtaining the information that the right hon. Gentleman discussed the question of political prisoners with the Russian leaders?
§ The Prime MinisterI did not say I had discussed this list. I did not say I had handed in this list. I am not prepared to say these things here at all. What I do say is that that list which appeared in the Manchester Guardian, which has a perfect right to publish the list, did not come from official sources. There are all sorts of other sources from which it may have come, and, of course, it is within the power of any newspaper, if it thinks it right to do so, to publish it.
§ Dame Irene WardIs it not perhaps a good thing on this occasion to allow Right to talk to Left?
§ Mr. ShinwellWill the right hon. Gentleman address himself to the question which I put to him? A statement appeared in the Manchester Guardian this morning that the right hon. Gentleman had discussed the question of political prisoners with the Russian leaders. This has nothing to do with lists. If that statement is correct, can the right hon. Gentleman say so? If not, how did the Manchester Guardian get such information?
§ The Prime MinisterNaturally, anybody can form any conjecture about the contents of the talks. I cannot help that. I have made no statement either in this House or anywhere else about what I discussed outside the terms of the communiqué, and I am not prepared to do so. If the House will just consider the national issues here it will see how very unwise we should be to fall into that trap.