HC Deb 04 July 1973 vol 859 cc519-20
12. Mr. Terry Davis

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs why his Department advised the amendment of a speech which the Duke of Edinburgh intended to make during his recent visit to Portugal.

Mr. Amery

No problems arose in connection with the drafting of this speech that needed reference to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Mr. Davis

Will the Minister answer the Question? Did the British Embassy withdraw the advance text of a speech that the Duke of Edinburgh was going to make, and, if so, why?

Mr. Amery

I do not think that the hon. Member quite understands what happened. It is quite normal. I do not know whether it happens to him, but it often happens to me. [Laughter.] Any speech goes through several drafts, and in the course of preparation of the speech, the draft alters. This is all that happened. Quite normally, in the course of preparing his speech, the Duke of Edinburgh consulted the ambassador about it and made certain changes.

Hon. Members

Why?

Mr. Biggs-Davison

Can my right lion. Friend answer this question? Why should British Members of Parliament be so eager to make trouble for an alliance vital to the security of the West in this historic anniversary year?

Mr. Amery

I join my hon. Friend in wondering why. It seems to me very strange.

Mr. Judd

Does the right hon. Gentleman not agree that the gravest charge against the Foreign Office is that it put the Duke of Edinburgh in the humiliating position of having, by implication, to condone Portugal's cruelly repressive policy in Africa?

Mr. Amery

Any changes that were made were made by the Duke of Edinburgh himself. They were not made at the request of the Portuguese.