§ Sir Philip Goodhart (Beckenham)I beg to ask leave to present a petition on behalf of 335 constituents and their neighbours. It is a short petition, which states:
To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in Parliament assembled.The Humble Petition of residents of Bromley, Kent area, showeth that the Soviet Christian, Alexander Ogorodnikov, is in abject conditions in a Soviet labour camp on a charge arising from his leadership of a Christian discussion group.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your honourable House encourage the Foreign Secretary in his representations to the Soviet Government with the purpose of obtaining Mr. Ogorodnikov's release and reunion with his wife and son.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound will ever pray, etc.I had hoped that it would not be necessary to introduce this petition, but I spoke to a Foreign Office Minister late this afternoon and he told me that Mr. Ogorodnikov, like so many thousands of his fellow citizens, still seems to be imprisoned because of his religious beliefs.
§ To lie upon the Table.