§ 10. Mr. Gurdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will obtain a report from the chief constable on the action taken to reduce crimes of vice traffic in Birmingham, particularly in Balsall Heath and parts of Moseley.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Elystan Morgan)I understand from the Chief Constable that a special squad of experienced detectives was set up early this year to deal with offences of this nature in the city, and that, partly as a result, there has been an increase in the number of prosecutions for soliciting, brothel-keeping and living on immoral earnings.
§ Mr. GurdenI thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply clarifying the position, but is he not aware that enforcement is still a long way from anything like being effective? Is he aware that in one case a European immigrant was heavily fined but not recommended for deportation, although this probably was by no means his first offence?
§ Mr. MorganSo far as the hon. Member suggests that there may be any connection between immigration and this problem, I should say that where immigrants form a large proportion of the population obviously they reflect the characteristics of that area both good and bad. There is no evidence whatever to suggest that the incidence of this traffic among immigrants is greater than it is among the indigenous population.