§ 11.5 a.m.
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Lord Privy Seal (Mr. R. A. Butler)I should like, with your permission, Sir, and that of the House, to make a statement about an Answer I gave to Questions yesterday about the origin of the copies of some of the Casement Diaries which have been published in "The Black Diaries." I said that there had been copies in Dublin and that it was probably from there that the published material was obtained.
On further inquiry I find that one of the joint authors of "The Black Diaries" claims that in 1922 he was given the material on which the book was based by "a person of some authority in London." While the original diaries did not pass into the custody of the Home Office until 1925, and any disclosure was made without the authority of the then Home Secretary, I have no reason to dispute this account of how the joint author came by the copies.
It appears, therefore, that the book is not based on any copies there may be in Dublin.