§ Mr. BennI wish to raise a point of order with you, Mr. Speaker, of which I have given you notice, on a separate subject. It concerns the difficulty of putting down Questions about the refusal of the Portuguese Government to admit my right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan) to Portugal. I would like to submit representations to you on this matter, Sir, which seems to me to raise a very important principle.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder, The hon. Member has put a question to me and I must answer it. The hon. Member asked me for a Ruling on the admissibility of Questions about the refusal by foreign Governments to grant visas to individual British subjects and, in particular, on the recent refusal by the Portuguese Government to grant a visa to the right hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan).
My predecessors have consistently refused Questions on such matters on the grounds that the Foreign Secretary has no responsibility for the action of another State in refusing entry to a British subject, and that, in fact, he never did make representations on such matters.
The hon. Member also asked me to rule whether Questions on the extent to which the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation had machinery to deal with this matter would be in order. Since the North Atlantic Treaty gives that Organisation no power in regard to the entry of subjects of member States into each others territories, no Ministerial responsibility can be adduced which 1316 would allow Questions to be accepted on this side of the matter. I understand that after discussion with the Table Office a Question on a related aspect of this matter has been drafted, and submitted to the hon. Member, which would be in order.
§ Mr. BennI am very grateful to you, Sir, for giving that answer, but I want to make representations in view of the circumstances of this particular case, in which the British Embassy. in Lisbon, having been notified of the visit, made arrangements for a banquet for my right hon. Friend, and, indeed, the Foreign Office, from the beginning, blessed this visit until, subsequently, after representations were made, it was refused.
If I may draw your attention to the words on the first page of passports, Mr. Speaker. you will see that
Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.There can be no greater let or hindrance than the refusal of a visa by a foreign country.This is a matter of real substance in view of the fact that my right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale is a member of the Privy Council. The reason why I have raised the question of N.A.T.O. is that if one of our allies in N.A.T.O. is likely to be overthrown by a couple of speeches by so mellow a radical as my right hon. Friend, this raises the whole question of the value of N.A.T.O. in the free world.
§ Mr. SpeirOn a point of order. May I ask whether the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) informed his right hon. Friend the Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Bevan) that he would raise this matter?
§ Mr. SpeakerI do not know whether he did or not. I would ask the hon. Member for Bristol, South-East (Mr. Benn) to realise that I am no judge, and if I were a judge I certainly would not express any views upon the merits of this matter. It has nothing to do with me. The hon. Member appealed to me on this point of order and I have told him that it has been frequently ruled in the past— 1317 and I am bound by it—that the Foreign Secretary has no responsibility for the action of a foreign Government in refusing a visa to a British subject.
The hon. Member has quoted the time-honoured sonorous words with which a passport opens, but these words have been in existence for a long time, during the time that the Rulings of my predecessors on this matter have been given. It must be taken that in commanding persons to give assistance to British subjects, the Foreign Secretary is commanding those whom he can command. That does not include the Government of a foreign country.
§ Mr. BennMy complaint is not that the Portuguese Government refused a visa to my right hon. Friend—that is absolutely within their power. My complaint is that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs failed to make any protest on behalf of this British subject. Indeed, if the words on the passport are so old as to have no meaning, might not the precedents which you have quoted also be held to be out of date for the same reason?
§ Mr. SpeakerThe hon. Member must argue the merits of this matter with the Foreign Secretary. He is only trying to argue with me about the admissibility of his Questions and I have to rule that they are inadmissible.
§ Mr. YoungerIs it not the fact that many Questions are put to the Foreign Secretary, and are accepted by the Table, on the lines of asking him to make representations to a foreign Government about something which is within the responsibility of that foreign Government? That is the whole purpose of diplomacy.
Surely, if the Foreign Secretary is asked to consult his allies on any policy matter regarding the N.A.T.O. Treaty, that is 1318 something in which the foreign Government is asked to take action on a matter outside the direct responsibility of Her Majesty's Government but is something on which, nevertheless, Her Majesty's Government may make representations. What is the difference here?
§ Mr. SpeakerApparently, the difference lies in the fact that the Foreign Secretary never makes representations about the refusal by a foreign country of a visa to a British subject. That is the difference here.
§ Mr. YoungerThat may be so as a matter of policy, but surely, as a matter of order, the Foreign Secretary could make such representations. Is this not a matter of policy on which the Foreign Secretary should be asked to give an answer?
§ Mr. SpeakerThat is an entirely different matter. I know, however, that in all cases of refusal of visas the Ruling has been that they are not a matter in which there is Departmental responsibility upon the Foreign Secretary. It is not part of his duty and, therefore, the Question is disallowed.
§ Several Hon. Members rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. We have passed from this matter now. I must consider those hon. Members who have subjects for the Adjournment.
§ Mr. Emrys Hughes rose—
§ Mr. SpeakerDoes the hon. Member rise to a point of order?
§ Mr. HughesNo, Mr. Speaker. I would never dream of raising a point of order before the Christmas season.
§ Mr. SpeakerA very admirable sentiment.