§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I should like to be allowed to ask the noble and learned Lord the Leader of the House if he has any statement to make with respect to affairs in Egypt.
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (LORD PARMOOR)My Lords, in reply to the noble Marquess, I will read a statement on Egypt made by the Prime Minister in the House of Commons this afternoon, but it was not for discussion. The statement is in these terms:—
"As early as June 4, when the present constitutional crisis in Egypt first showed signs of developing, His Majesty's Government instructed the High Commissioner that his attitude must be one of strict neutrality, though consistently with that position it was left to his discretion to remind both parties to the dispute that we at this end were doing all in our power to maintain the good atmosphere in which the Treaty negotiations had terminated. Sir Percy Loraine made statements in this sense both to King Fuad and to Nahas Pasha, who expressed his gratification.
"Since the formation of the present Government Sir Percy Loraine has made it clear that His Majesty's Government intended to adhere to their attitude of neutrality and non-intervention in what appeared to them to be a purely internal issue for the Egyptians themselves to decide. No other attitude was possible consistent with the declared intention of His Majesty's Government in 1922, and we shall continue to maintain it to the extent compatible with our international responsibilities.
"Before the news of the deplorable events in Alexandria had reached London, the High Commissioner had been instructed to make it quite plain that His Majesty's Government did not intend to be used as an instrument for an attack on the Egyptian Constitution. In consequence they could be no party to an alteration of the electoral law, even if precluded by their Declaration in 1922 from actual intervention in an internal issue of this nature.
"In view of yesterday's events, Sir Percy Loraine has been instructed to inform Sidky Pasha that we must hold him responsible for the protection of foreign lives and property in Egypt. Sir Percy Loraine has also been told to inform Nahas Pasha that internal Egyptian difficulties must be solved without endangering foreign lives and interests, and that we shall hold him 494 equally responsible with the Government if foreign lives and interests are endangered.
"In the meantime, in view of the menace to foreign life and property in Alexandria, His Majesty's Government have ordered two ships to proceed to that port."