§ Q3. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Prime Minister if he will now appoint an official historian to write the history of the Suez campaign and its consequences.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydI have been asked to reply.
I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer my right hon. Friend gave to Questions on this subject on 14th May.
§ Mr. HughesMay I congratulate the right hon. and learned Gentleman on sticking to his job when the Prime Minister is trying to hypnotise the Tory women? Is he aware that, while the Government refuse to appoint an official 629 historian of the Suez affair, this job has been undertaken by a professor of Chicago University and that he said about the right hon. and learned Gentleman that on 22nd October Ben Gurion, the Prime Minister of Israel, made a secret visit to France where at a conference held until 26th October he conferred
with top French Government leaders and Selwyn Lloyd".Does not the right hon. and learned Gentleman think that he owes some explanation to the House?
§ Mr. LloydA great many things have been said by a great many people, and a great many books have been written, but I do not propose to add anything.
Mr. H. WilsonNow that the right hon. and learned Gentleman has had the Whitsun Recess to reflect on his refusal to anwer previous Questions, if he will not add to what has been written in these books, will be subtract from it and stand up and deny the statement that has been made, in order to make it unnecessary to consider the appointment of an official historian?
§ Mr. LloydFor the reasons given by my right hon. Friend, and which I have given from time to time, I do not intend to add to what has been publicly stated.
Mr. WilsonThe assurance given by the noble Lord the Earl of Avon at the end of 1956 was simply a plain statement that there had been no collusion. Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that at that time no one had suggested in the House, and there would have been a lot of interest if anyone had, that the right hon. and learned Gentleman himself had been over for these secret meetings in the planning of the Suez operation? Does he not owe it to himself and to the House to clear himself of these statements or admit that they are true?
§ Mr. LloydIt is a question of judgment. [HON. MEMBERS "Oh."] All sorts of suggestions were made from the beginning of a varying nature, but the matter was fully debated in the House and I do not think that it is right in the public interest that anything should be added to what has been already said.
§ Mr. SpeakerWe ought to try to make some progress on Questions. We have taken up a lot of time on points of order.
§ Mr. HughesOn a point of order. In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise this matter again at the earliest opportunity.