HL Deb 02 July 1941 vol 119 cc630-40

LORD DAVIES had given Notice that he would draw attention to the restrictions imposed, under the Security Regulations, upon American nationals resident in or visiting this country; and move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, perhaps I ought to apologise for bringing forward this Motion, after the very interesting debate to which we have listened, but having ventured to ask the noble Duke some time ago—on April 2—a question with regard to the possibility of exempting American citizens from restrictions and regulations which are imposed upon aliens in this country, I feel it my duty to bring up the matter again in view of certain things that have happened since that time.

In his reply to my questions on that occasion my noble friend reiterated and emphasized the desire of the Government to give the most liberal treatment possible to citizens of the United States and other friends of this country who are either residing here or are here on a visit. He then went on to say that: With this object in view all the orders imposing restrictions on aliens provide that exemptions will be granted in individual cases. My right honourable friend informs me that this has been proved a more satisfactory method of dealing with the problem than granting wholesale exemptions to persons of any one nationality. Such a policy would inevitably lead to invidious distinctions being drawn between the many friends and loyal Allies of this country who are anxious to serve the allied cause, but I can assure the noble Lord opposite that the authorities charged with the administration of the Aliens Order have received special instructions to give sympathetic treatment to persons such as citizens of allied countries or of the United States in whose case there is a special presumption that their sympathies are with this country. That was the reply given, and I imagined that effective measures would have been taken by the Home Office to give this sympathetic treatment and to give effect to the special instructions which we understood had been issued to the officers concerned.

Since that date there have been at least three cases to which I would like to draw the attention of your Lordships. One is the case of a party of young Americans who came across the Atlantic in a ship filled with R.A.F. personnel from Canada. These young Americans were qualified pilots so anxious to fight with us that they were coming here to enlist in the R.A.F. They were just the friends we needed most and their presence on board this particular ship was in itself a guarantee of their good faith They had to have official permission to be on the ship at all. What happened when they arrived? Did we show them in any way that we welcomed them? The grim alien immigration officer herded them away from those with whom they had crossed the Atlantic and said, "You get over there, until I see about you." When they expostulated and explained the purpose of their landing he replied, "You are just as good as aliens to me." I submit that that was a most unfortunate incident, and one cannot help wondering what were the feelings of these young men who had come over here to fight for us, when they were received in that extraordinary fashion. There are three questions which, if I may, I would like to be allowed to put to my noble friend. The first is: Were any steps taken to verify these statements which appeared in a reputable paper? The second is: Were any steps taken to reprimand the officials who had treated these people in this extraordinary fashion? The third question is: When were these special instructions, to which my noble friend alluded in his reply to the question which I asked him some time ago, actually issued?

Another case which has come to my notice is that of an American industrialist who, having completed his business with us, very much to our advantage, decided to stay here to aid our cause. He is still here and he wants to fight for us in the Home Guard. Can he join? No, he is an allien. Yet another case is that of an eminent United States lawyer, a member of the American and English bars who has practised here for years and is closely associated with his Embassy. It took him three weeks to secure permission to go from London to Devon for a holiday. Like most other Americans who have lived here for years, he is not allowed to be out of doors after 10.30—or rather I think after 11.30, as I believe the time has been altered during the last few days.

The case which I had in mind when I ventured to put down this question was that of an American citizen who came over here some years ago and has been very closely associated with a big manufacturing firm in the Midlands. Perhaps I may be allowed to quote extracts from a letter which I received from the chairman of his firm, who is, of course, an Englishman. He writes: It is monstrous that reputable citizens of the country to whom we owe so much, should be continuallly exposed to irritating discrimination on the part of minor officials. We all know the importance of guarding against the activities; of Fifth Columnists and traitors. But to treat all U.S.A. citizens as potential spies regardless of their antecedents is bound to provoke resentment that may develop into mistrust on the part of those concerned.

My attention was drawn to this subject originally by a letter which this gentleman wrote to The Times. It appears that as the result of the reply which the noble Duke was good enough to give me at the beginning of April, he wrote to the Home Office. He wrote on the 16th April and he received a reply on the 24th May. That means, I think, that he: had to wait five weeks for that reply. The letter from the Home Office is as follows: With reference to your letter of the 16th April, I am directed by the Secretary of State to say that any application which your wife now makes to the Chief Constable of Somerset for permission to visit her sons will receive sympathetic consideration and if she desires to take up war work (in canteens) she should get her proposed employer to submit an application to the Aliens' War Service Department, Box No. 666, Parliament Street, B.O., London, S.W.I, for 1he necessary permit. That is the way in which these people have been, and are being, treated—people who have resided for a long time in this country and who are anxious to assist us in our war effort. Of course, I have no doubt that there are other cases of which one does not hear but which cause the same kind of unfortunate reaction.

Now the second point in my noble friend's reply was that it was not possible to draw what he described as an invidious distinction between American citizens and those friendly aliens who are also working for us and assisting us in the war. Naturally, we all welcome the co-operation of these people and one feels that during the past two years we have omitted to make the most of the potentialities of the special and unique work which many of these refugees could have performed if only we had had the sense to use their services. However that may be, I think that there is a distinction to be drawn between American citizens and those of other countries because there is certainly a distinction between the attitude which the United States have taken up with regard to the war and the attitude taken up by peoples of other countries. I would ask what other countries did to help us before they were attacked. I have yet to learn that any of them actually assisted us in any particular way, and certainly none of them helped us as the United States have already helped us by passing the Lease-and-Lend Act and by assisting us in our war effort in other ways. It is true that France joined us at the very beginning of the war, but it will be within the recollection of your Lordships that we did offer common citizenship to the French people just before the unfortunate collapse of the French Government. That offer was turned down. Therefore, I think that this idea that it is impossible to draw a distinction between our American friends and other friendly aliens in this country is entirely unfounded. I venture to suggest that there should be at least some kind of gesture of appreciation of the attitude which the American Government and the American people have adopted towards us during this terrible struggle.

The third point was with regard to what I suggested in my question—that we might be willing to grant American people the status of British citizenship, either in the case of those who are paying visits to this country or of those who have been resident here for a long time. I am afraid that I made a mistake in expressing it in that way, and I apologise for having done so. It is not quite what I intended. What I had in mind was that this status should be an honorary status, something equivalent to the granting of the freedom of a town or city, something which did not carry with it duties and obligations, many of which might be very onerous and which would probably prevent any Americans, or all but very few Americans, from accepting. I cannot help feeling that the granting of honorary status is quite a different matter, and that it might be done without inflicting any great responsibilities or duties upon those people who desire to accept, and who would, consequently, be exempt from these regulations and restrictions.

Another point was that there should be no wholesale exemptions. Nobody for one moment would suggest that. Obviously there must be some test. I cannot help feeling that arrangements could have been made with the United States Ambassador here so that it would be possible to ensure that no persons who were unfriendly or who might be regarded as dangerous to us, in the prosecution of the war, should be granted this status. I cannot help feeling that this question is long overdue and is a matter upon which the Home Secretary might well consult the Prime Minister, and I feel sure that the Prime Minister would have considerable sympathy for it. Some weeks ago we all rejoiced that honorary degrees had been conferred upon the Prime Minister of this country and upon President Roosevelt in America. It was a wonderful gesture. I cannot help feeling that that gesture should be applied to Americans who come over here to assist us in our war effort. It would do away with the many vexatious pinpricks which these regulations unfortunately produce, and also promote comradeship between our two great countries, not only conducing towards greater co-operation but increasing the feeling of friendship and mutual respect between the two great branches of the English-speaking peoples. I beg to move for Papers.

THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA AND BURMA (THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE)

My Lords, I do not think my noble friend need have apologised for having returned to this subject after a lapse of two months. I am very glad he has done so. It gives me another opportunity of expressing our gratitude to the United States and to its many magnificently generous citizens for the immensely valuable and ever more powerful help they are giving us. The position about the restrictions on foreigners is that in peace-time foreigners in this country were required to register with the police, they were required to report changes of permanent address and absences of more than two weeks. In wartime those regulations have been very considerably added to. Foreigners are now subjected to additional restrictions upon their movements. A foreigner has to obtain permission from the police or the Secretary of State if he wants to be absent from his home at night or if he wants to be in certain prohibited areas. He is also required to get permission to have in his possession certain articles, such as a bicycle, motor car, sea-going craft, or aircraft. Also there are coastal areas extending from Yorkshire round to the east and south coasts as far as Cornwall, and in the Bristol Channel, various areas in the neighbourhood of the principal ports, and the greater part of the north of Scotland, and a strip of the coast of Ulster, in which a foreigner may not reside without permission.

The question the noble Lord opposite asks is whether American citizens should not be exempt from these restrictions. When he raised the subject before I told him in reply that instructions had been given to the police that liberal treatment should be accorded to persons in whose case there is presumption that their sympathies are with this country. The noble Lord asked me when those instructions were given. They were given early this year and they were repeated in April as a result of the representations made in your Lordships' House by the noble Lord opposite.

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has given very careful consideration to the question whether, in these restrictions, some distinction might not be drawn between different categories of foreigners according to their nationality, in particular whether these distinctions should not be applicable, or be applicable in a milder form, to nationals of allied countries and of the United States. I think my noble friend will agree that if exemption is granted to any country or group of countries, other Powers would certainly begin to make representations on behalf of their own nationals. It has to be remembered that these restrictions were not imposed wantonly or just to annoy; they were imposed for very important security reasons. It has to be borne in mind that a very large proportion of the foreigners now in this country have been here for a very short time only, and we know very little about them as individuals. The principal purpose of these regulations and restrictions is to enlist the assistance of foreigners themselves in keeping the police informed about their movements, their possessions, their motor cars, etc. Otherwise the police would have to make all these inquiries themselves and that would cast a very considerable burden on people who already have quite enough on their hands. If the police had to make inquiries and keep watch on every foreign individual in the country whom they did not know, that task would be a very heavy one indeed.

Apart from the question of treatment, these restrictions would lose then-effectiveness if they were abandoned in respect of the nationals of any country generally, unless we were quite sure that every individual in this country of that nationality was loyal to the allied cause and thoroughly reliable and trustworthy. I do not think it can really be maintained—indeed I do not think the United States themselves would expect—that they should receive more: favourable treatment than the nationals of our Allies who are fighting in the field on our side. I believe at the same time that our Allies would be quite satisfied that Americans should receive treatment as favourable as that which they themselves receive. It is therefore a question—I do not think that we can get away from this—of granting this favour of the status of British citizenship to all, both Allies and Americans, or to none. We are proud of our Allies and we welcome the very valuable assistance which they arc giving in very many directions. We are proud to be able to give hospitality in this country to their Governments, and to very considerable numbers of their citizens. Every day we apprceiate more the tremendous value of the help which the great American democracy is giving to our cause. But I do not believe that we can, for these reasons, assume that every single allied or American citizen in this country can automatically be regarded as loyal to the allied cause and as reliable and as trustworthy without any qualification.

If there were to be a wholesale exemption of all allied and American nationals from these restrictions, it would be necessary forthwith to reimpose these restrictions individually upon a certain number of persons who, for one reason or another, could not be treated as completely reliable; and the authorities would find it impossible to make quite sure that among all the persons feed from restrictions there were not some who ought to be watched with care and whose movements ought to be limited. Again, the most carefully worked machinery is liable to fail, and, if it became a question of granting this exemption, I think it would be quite certain that some who most deserved it would not get it, and that others who were in fact not as loyal to the allied cause as they might be would go free. I do not want to belittle for one moment the immense value of the help that we are getting from America, but I think it would make things too easy for Hitler's secret service if the fact of being an American automatically gave a man a free run of this country.

As I indicated when I replied to my noble friend before, and as the Home Secretary has indicated elsewhere, the Government have chosen to adopt quite a different course, and one which, I admit, is not so striking a gesture as would be the complete exemption of American and allied citizens from these restrictions, but one which is likely to give to all our friends who need it all the freedom they would, under war-time conditions, either expect or desire—and after all, they are out to help our cause. My right honourable friend has not told the police that foreigners of this or that nationality are to be exempted from the restrictions; what he has told them is that those foreigners in whose case there is a presumption that their sympathies are with this country in the present war must—he used the word "must"—be dealt with sympathetically and generously. The police have also been given instructions—indeed, it is obvious—that the possession of cither allied or American nationality raises in itself a strong, although not necessarily conclusive, presumption of sympathy with our cause at the present time. Since the noble Lord first called attention to this matter, my right honourable friend has again circularised the police in this sense.

He has also asked me to say that he will always be willing to take up any individual case in which there appears to be reason for thinking that these instructions have not been observed. I am not familiar with the case to which the noble Lord referred, and which certainly seems at first blush to be a most unfortunate case of discourtesy, but I do not agree with him that these American pilots should automatically be exempted from examination on entering port, because examination is necessary to see that they are what they describe themselves as being. How ever, anything in the nature of discourtesy, such as the noble Lord indicated took place, is obviously most regrettable, and I am sure that my right honourable friend will look into that case. He will also look into any other case in which an American or allied citizen has not been treated with proper courtesy and consideration. I have taken note of the various cases of delay and so forth of which the noble Lord complained. Government Departments, of course, are desperately overstrained in these days, and delays are not confined to American nationals. There are very many ways in which not only American nationals but members of your Lordships' House suffer from delays when dealing with Government Departments. My right honourable friend will, I am sure, do his best to see that those American citizens whose presence here we welcome warmly are treated with every consideration, and as generously and sensibly as possible.

LORD DAVIES

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Duke for his reply. With regard to the point which he raised at the end of his speech, I should like to point out that the boat on which these American pilots came over was carrying personnel of the R.A.F. from Canada, and they could not possibly have been allowed to go on that boat unless the authorities in Canada had been prepared to accept them. That, however, is only a detail.

It may be important to discriminate between the nationals of other countries and American citizens who come to this country, because the Americans are either people who are in business here and who have lived here for a considerable time or people who have come to help us in the prosecution of the war, and I do not see what ground for complaint any other Government would have if the honorary status which I ventured to suggest were granted. It would obviously not be granted to all Americans. The noble Duke referred to its being granted automatically, but I never suggested for a moment that all American citizens should be allowed to receive British citizenship in what I think he described as a wholesale fashion. Obviously their applications would have to be carefully examined, but that could be done with the collaboration of the American Embassy and the American authorities in this country. I should like to thank the noble Duke for his reply, although I confess I am not satisfied with it. Surely those aliens in this country who are unfriendly and who are regarded with suspicion have already been sent to detention camps? If not, it is high time that they were; and, if that has been done, I do not think that it is placing any greater responsibility on the police to grant the status which I suggest to bona-fide and friendly Americans. However, I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.

Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.