HC Deb 11 December 1962 vol 669 cc202-3
Q1. Lieut.-Colonel Cordeaux

asked the Prime Minister if he will consider introducing legislation to amend the Official Secrets Act with a view to preventing the disclosure, in written OT other farm, of any actions or operations carried out by members or former members of the British Secret Intelligence Service or other secret Government services.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

The provisions of the Official Secrets Acts are already adequate for their purpose; and, in general, they work satisfactorily.

Lieut.-Colonel Cordeaux

If my right hon. Friend considers that the Act is adequate for its purpose, will he agree that it has not been enforced? For instance, does he agree that the recent publication of the book, "The Quiet Canadian", discloses the most flagrant breaches of the Official Secrets Act by one or mare people, showing that the Act is not being enforced in the way it was after the First World War? If no action is taken under the Act as a result of the publication of this book, will it not be impossible to prevent other secret agents exploiting their own experiences for money and, moreover, impossible to prosecute them if they do?

The Prime Minister

I am informed that this book, "The Quiet Canadian", did not in fact prejudice current security in any way. I am informed also that any breach was inadvertent and due to a misunderstanding. In general, the requirements of the Act are widely understood and are well observed.

Dame Irene Ward

In view of my right hon. Friend's rather surprising statement about what is in "The Quiet Canadian", will he say whether the book was submitted by Mr. Montgomery Hyde to the usual authorities far passing or whether Mr. Montgomery Hyde got some other individuals to look at the book? It is most important, in the interest of preserving the secrets which are essential to our security, to know exactly what happened in the procedure relating to this book.

The Prime Minister

The Question is a general one to which I gave a general Answer. If my hon. Friend will put dawn a Question about the circumstances of that particular case, I shall answer it.