§ 36. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he complied with the request of the United States service authorities that Private Tupper should be arrested by the Metropolitan Police under the terms of the Visiting Forces Act, 1952.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganThe Act provides that, at the request of any country to which it applies, the police may arrest a deserter from the forces of that country, with a view to his return to the jurisdiction of the appropriate service authorities. The United States is a country to which the Act applies, and I found no reason to advise the Commissioner of Police that the procedure under the Act should not be complied with.
§ Mr. AllaunBut was not Mr. Tupper really a political refugee who should have been granted political asylum in accordance with the traditions of our country? Have not other N.A.T.O. countries, notably Sweden, Holland and France, granted such asylum and not handed men over to the American Forces?
§ Mr. MorganSweden is not a N.A.T.O. country. There is no evidence at all of political or conscience connections in this case. Private Tupper was enlisted in the United States Army for 1685 two years on 25th October, 1966. He went absent without leave from his unit in Fort Irwin, California, on 31st August, 1967.