HC Deb 02 May 1963 vol 676 cc1305-6
Q1. Commander Kerans

asked the Prime Minister if he is aware that the late Mr. H. V. Pennells was wrongly blamed in Command Paper No. 2009; and whether he will cause further inquiries to be made especially from those who knew him.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Macmillan)

I have no evidence for thinking that the Tribunal was mistaken in its conclusions about the late Mr. Pennells; but it is important to see these conclusions in proper perspective. The Tribunal considered that Mr. Penells was remiss and lacking in judgment in not taking effective action, notwithstanding warnings from the Foreign Office, to seek a review of the system of selecting subordinate staff for naval attachés behind the Iron Curtain. But it said that it would be unjust to conclude that Mr. Pennells had been negligent of his public duty, and it commented that in general he was efficient and conscientious and served the Admiralty well.

Commander Kerans

Is my right hon. Friend not aware that there is considerable feeling in the country that the late Mr. Pennells was made the scapegoat in this sordid affair? Surely the blame should be taken collectively in the Admiralty by the heads of department concerned. I served with Mr. Pennells when I was in the Admiralty in 1951 and 1952 and again, when naval attaché, I had considerable dealings with him subsequently in 1954 and 1955 when I went to Bangkok. In all my experience he was honest, hard working and conscientious and I do not feel that his family should be singled out for the treatment which has been meted out to them without the ability to answer back.

The Prime Minister

I quite understand my hon. and gallant Friend's feelings and that is why I thought it right, in answering the Question, to draw attention to the Tribunal's favourable comments upon the late Mr. Pennells so as to put the Question in perspective.

Mr. Lipton

Does it not strike the Prime Minister as rather mean that the only person to be seriously criticised by the Tribunal was a dead man who could not answer for himself, whereas the other evidence showed that quite a number of people who were far more blameworthy were completely exonerated?

The Prime Minister

It was under an Order of the House that the Tribunal was appointed and has made its Report. It is not for me to do more than I have tried to do, to point out that the Tribunal found that this man was an experienced and valuable officer and thought that he had made a slip on this occasion.

Captain Litchfield

Has my right hon. Friend taken note of the statement in paragraph 73 of the Report that Despite representations by Mr. Pennells that the field of choice ought not to be restricted by the discouragement of married men, considerations of economy dictated that preference should be offered to applicants who were single"?

The Prime Minister

That is a general question which it would be relevant to discuss when we discuss the Report of the Tribunal.