§ LORD NEWTON had the following
§ Question on the Paper:—
§ To ask how many persons connected with various Soviet Missions have been admitted into this country since the conclusion of the Anglo-Russian Trade Agreement; and how many are resident here now; and whether all these employees of the Soviet Government enjoy either complete or partial diplomatic immunity.
§ LORD DESBOROUGHMy Lords, I venture to make an appeal to my noble friend Lord Newton to postpone the Question of which he has given Notice. It is a matter in which both the Foreign Office and the Home Office are concerned, and I think he will see that in the absence of the Foreign Secretary it is impossible to give him either an immediate or a satisfactory answer. I hope, therefore, that he will kindly consent to put the Question down for one day next week.
§ LORD NEWTONMy Lords, I should be very reluctant to embarrass the Foreign Office, or the Home Office, or my noble friend who is on the threshold of his official career, and I am ready to postpone my Question if he will undertake to give an adequate answer one day next week. In that case I will put the Question clown for Tuesday.