§ 42. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why prisoners in Her Majesty's Prison, Dartmoor, are not permitted to receive copies of HANSARD.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. J. E. S. Simon)Subject to the rules governing the receipt of periodicals, there is no reason why a prisoner should not be allowed to receive copies of HANSARD. If the hon. Member has any particular case in mind, my right hon. Friend will be glad to look into it if he will let him have details.
§ Mr. SwinglerIs the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that this rule is apparently not being followed? Is he aware that a constituent of mine who temporarily resides in Dartmoor was not permitted to receive a copy of HANSARD which I sent to him and which, I thought, was neither obscene nor seditious? Will he therefore make further investigations to make sure that this rule is properly followed?
§ Mr. SimonIt is a prison rule relating to publications that they must be received from the publisher direct in order to avoid the necessity of censorship. I think that that was probably the cause of the trouble in the hon. Gentleman's case.
§ Mr. DraysonIs it not possible that the reading of HANSARD in prisons might be regarded as an additional punishment; or may not this publication come within the category of comic?
§ Mr. ShinwellCould arrangements be made for a copy of the OFFICIAL REPORT to be sent to a prisoner if he happens to be one of our constituents?
§ Mrs. BraddockIs it not time that HANSARD was allowed to be put in every prison library so that those prisoners who desire to read it—and many of them do—would have an opportunity to ask for it and to receive it as a right?