HC Deb 17 July 1958 vol 591 cc1431-3
28. Mr. Collins

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce the new standing orders relating to letters sent by prisoners to Members of Parliament; and what are the principal changes he is considering.

Mr. Renton

A revised standing order on this subject will be issued shortly and my right hon. Friend will place a copy of it in the Library of the House. The new order allows some relaxation of the restrictions on the subject matter of prisoners' letters. Prisoners will also in future be permitted to request any hon. Member to visit them but not to enclose a visiting order. If the Member wishes to accept such an invitation my right hon. Friend will be glad to authorise a visit.

Mr. Collins

While welcoming that reply, may I ask the hon. and learned Gentleman if he is aware that an urgent letter from my constituent, Collier, then under sentence of death, took six days to reach me? Is he aware that the prison authorities said that this was because it had been held back pending sanction by the Commissioner before it was posted? Is not it intolerable that even in matters of life and death an anonymous civil servant should decide whether a man should write to a Member of Parliament? Will the new regulations avoid a scandal of this kind and provide reasonable freedom for men to write without interference to their Members of Parliament?

Mr. Renton

I am sure that the hon. Member appreciates that prisoners' letters, even to Members of Parliament, have to be censored—[HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"]—and it is not possible for us to make a change in that respect. As to a particular case, if the hon. Member cares to let me know more fully about it, I should be glad to look into it.

Mr. Collins

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that I received the letter on a Wednesday, delayed six days, and that the man was due to be hanged on the following Tuesday but was reprieved on the Friday? Is he aware that the letter was kept back only because of a stupid, harsh rule and that as a result of delay the man might now be dead? Surely that kind of thing is utterly wrong and indefensible. Will the hon. and learned Gentleman approach his right hon. Friend on the matter?

Mr. Renton

It seems to me from what the hon. Member has said that the matter was dealt with very promptly eventually.

Mr. Gordon Walker

Could the hon. and learned Gentleman say why letters to Members of Parliament have to be censored?

Mr. Renton

There are two reasons. One is that they may contain complaints on prison treatment not previously ventilated through the usual channels. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] It is right that they should be so ventilated in the first place. [HON. MEMBERS: "Why?"] The other reason is that the letters may contain objectionable matter which prisoners are not allowed to send out of prison.

Mr. Gordon Walker

Will the hon. and learned Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend to look at this matter again? Is he aware that neither reason seems satisfactory and that both would apply to letters from soldiers which are not censored? Will the Home Office look into this again?

Mr. Renton

Soldiers are in a position entirely different from that of men who are detained in prison.

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