§ 53 and 54. Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) to what extent the British Police Advisory Mission in Vietnam has been engaged in interrogating prisoners;
§ (2) to what extent the British Police Advisory Mission in Vietnam has been successful in dealing with armed robbery in Saigon.
§ Mr. M. StewartMembers of the British Advisory Mission are not concerned with the direct enforcement of law and order anywhere in South Vietnam, nor have they been engaged in interrogating prisoners.
§ Mr. HughesWould the Foreign Secretary tell us exactly what these police officials are doing there? In view of the great increase in violent crime in this country, can he tell us why the British taxpayer should provide police missions for Saigon?
§ Mr. StewartThe mission, as its name implies, is engaged in advisory functions and not in the direct enforcement of police work. The main fields in which it has been engaged in the last year are such matters as the organisation of training schools, not units, a marine branch of the police, and advising on measures of defence against terrorism. One of the police advisers occasionally lectures to the National Interrogation Centre. I believe that these men are helping in a field which will be vital if order and peaceful life are to be restored in this unhappy country.