MR. ANTHONY GREY (Hansard, 19 June 1969)

§ Q11. Mr. Hooson
asked the Prime Minister if he will now intensify diplomatic pressure to gain the release of Mr. Anthony Grey from Peking; and if he will make a statement.

§ The Prime Minister
Repeated representations have been made to the Chinese both here and in Peking asking for Mr. Grey's early release and immediate consular access to him; the most recent occasion being on 19th May when the acting Chinese Chargé d'Affaires was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and asked to convey to his Government the very great importance which Her Majesty's Government attach to his early release. We shall continue to press the Chinese urgently for a satisfactory answer.

§ Mr. Hooson
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is great concern thoroughout the country that the fate and ordeal of this young man should not appear to be forgotten for one moment, and that there is great hope that the Government will be able to intensify the campaign to bring pressure on the Chinese to release him? Is there any glimmer of hope in the recent exchanges that this young man's ordeal may be ended?

§ The Prime Minister
I entirely share what the hon. and learned Gentleman has said about the concern all over the country about the intolerable treatment of Mr. Grey: it is a concern fully shared by Her Majesty's Government and every-once else in the House. I would not like to raise the hopes of the hon. and learned Gentleman by responding to the latter part of his question. In all these matters, I am sure that the House will agree that it is better that as little as possible should be said. Although I was grateful to the Leader of the Opposition last week for raising the question of the nurse who had been seized in Nigeria, I felt it better then not to say more than I did—and the House saw the outcome a day or two later.

§ Mr. Brian Parkyn
Would not my right hon. Friend agree that, as long as the Government of Hong Kong puts Chinese citizens in prison and holds them in detention without trial, the tragedy of Anthony Grey and many others in China could well be repeated?

§ The Prime Minister
No, Sir. I am afraid that the cases referred to by my hon. Friend are not in any sense on all fours with the treatment of Mr. Grey. Indeed, when there have been complaints from the Chinese Government, they have been about persons who have been found guilty by the courts of actions contrary to law and order, which I think would have been the subject of charges in any country. I do not think that it is right to put these on a parallel with the treatment of Mr. Grey.

§ Mr. Humphrey Atkins
When the right hon. Gentleman asks the Chinese Government about Mr. Grey, will he please also make equally strong representations about the many other British residents illegally detained in China?

§ The Prime Minister
That is a very fair point. My right hon. Friend has done that.

§ Mr. Whitaker
Is my right hon. Friend aware that those who have been working and pressurising for the release of all British subjects detained in China hope that there will be equally vociferous pressure from the Opposition on behalf of the two British subjects detained without trial in South Africa?

§ The Prime Minister
That is a very fair point, but, I think, a different question from that on the Order Paper.

§ Mr. Hastings
When may we expect a statement on negotiations for the release of Gerald Brooke? Is the Prime Minister aware that there is a great deal of apprehension that the Government may be weakening over the question of exchange for the Krogers, and that this could have the most serious consequences?

§ The Prime Minister
If I were wrong in saying to my hon. Friend the Member for Hampstead (Mr. Whitaker) that developments in South Africa were a different question from that on the Order Paper, I could certainly say that the 700 hon. Gentleman's supplementary question is similarly different.

§ Mr. Hugh Jenkins
Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Krogers are now getting very old; and would it not be better if the British taxpayer ceased to pay for their upkeep?

§ The Prime Minister
I cannot answer any question except the Question on the Order Paper, which is about Mr. Grey. I know that the whole House is anxious about Mr. Grey, as it is about Mr. Brooke, but it would not help if, in trying to answer, I were to link the reply to one Question with the answer to another.