§ 12. Mr. Donnellyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps he has taken to secure reciprocal facilities for British newspaper men in Russia similar to those afforded by him to Russian newspaper men in Great Britain.
§ Mr. ProfumoIn April of this year Her Majesty's Government proposed to the Soviet Government that talks should be held on various aspects of freedom of information, including freedom of travel for journalists to and within the Soviet Union and freedom to send uncensored news reports out of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Government refused to take part in such talks.
§ Mr. DonnellyCan the hon. Gentleman say approximately how many Soviet journalists there are here and how many British journalists there are in Russia, and what kind of restrictions on travel are imposed on Russian journalists here and on our journalists there?
§ Mr. ProfumoVery little restriction is imposed on Soviet journalists here, in fact no more than on any other journalists. All reasonable requests are granted. Very serious restrictions on travel and certainly on sending reports out are imposed on our journalists in Moscow. As to correspondents, in London there are five, representing Tass, Moscow Radio, Trud, Pravda, Izvestia and Komsomols Kayo Pravda. There are two resident British correspondents in Moscow, representing Reuters and the Daily Worker, and two assistants in Reuters' office.