§ 28. Mrs. Castleasked the Minister of Defence if he will invite Professor Don Leet to the United Kingdom to discuss with Her Majesty's scientific advisers his method of detecting underground tests.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftNo, Sir. All scientific information on this topic is welcome and no special invitation is needed to secure this end.
§ Mrs. CastleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that in the House on 22nd May, the Prime Minister assured me that he would study any evidence made available by Professor Lewis Don Leet and that in response to that, Professor Don Leet wrote to the Prime Minister on 5th June sending the evidence and saying that he would greatly appreciate an opportunity of consultations with British scientists to test his claims but that so far the professor has had only an acknowledgment from the Prime Minister, who has cautiously transferred this Question, which I put down to him? Is it not absurd that when a man of that stature makes an offer to come and collaborate with British scientists, the offer is not accepted with open arms?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftFar be it from me to prevent any consultations on this extremely important topic, but Professor Leet, like a great many other scientists in this field, is in consultation with the American Government. We have our own scientists, discussions are going on and there is close contact between us and the American Government. If we all started issuing invitations to one another, I do not think that it would really help.