HC Deb 18 April 1957 vol 568 c2093
44. Mr. Benn

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations why the British High Commissioner in Ottawa did not attend the official reception given by the Soviet Ambassador to celebrate the opening of the new Soviet Embassy on 9th April.

The Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Mr. C. J. M. Alport)

He was not invited.

Mr. Benn

Has the attention of the Minister been drawn to the fact that in the United States newspapers—the New York Herald Tribunte, for example—it was reported that the British and United States representatives had boycotted this reception? Has his Department let it be generally known that no invitations were in fact sent?

Mr. Alport

My Department is not responsible for what appears in American or any other newspapers.

Mr. Benn

Is the hon. Gentleman taking steps to see that the true explanation is understood because, if I had not chosen to put down this Question, it would be generally thought in the United States and here that the British representative had refused to accept?

Mr. Alport

The Question and my Answer will, I am sure, make the position quite clear.