HL Deb 20 June 1956 vol 197 cc1115-21

2.43 p.m.

THE LORD BISHOP OF CHICHESTER

My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any complaints had been made to his ecclesiastical superiors with regard to the conduct of Father Macheriotis prior to his deportation; whether his ecclesiastical superiors had been asked to remove him as persona non grata; whether Her Majesty's Government have any evidence that funds collected under Father Macheriotis's direction have been used for any other purpose than the support of the families in Cyprus of those who have been detained; and whether the collection of funds for such a purpose is regarded by Her Majesty's Government as improper.]

THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (LORD MANCROFT)

My Lords, in order that your Lordships may be completely informed about the appeals for funds in connection with "the Cyprus national struggle", which, acting under an authority given by Archbishop Makarios, Mr. Macheriotis took a leading part in circulating among the Community attending his church in Camden Town, I have placed translations in the Library. Information was before my right honourable friend the Home Secretary that this church had been made a centre for the dissemination of anti-British propaganda. Complaints had been received from some loyal Cypriots and Greek nationals about the pressure that was being brought to bear on them. In these circumstances Her Majesty's Government decided that Mr. Macheriotis should be required to leave this country, and a deportation order was accordingly made by my right honourable friend.

No communication was addressed by Her Majesty's Government to Mr. Macheriotis's ecclesiastical superiors about this matter, and Her Majesty's Government could not accept any suggestion that action of this kind should not be taken against a person in Holy Orders without reference to his ecclesiastical superiors. It would have been inappropriate, in the view of Her Majesty's Government, to make any representation either to Mr. Macheriotis or to his ecclesiastical superiors, since in this country, at any rate, a foreigner who does not possess diplomatic immunity or status must be held personally responsible for his conduct. A foreigner cannot expect to be allowed to indulge in activities hostile to the country and to abuse the hospitality extended to him. If he does engage in conduct of this kind, the question arises whether it is conducive to the public good to allow him to remain here. Your Lordships will, I hope, he prepared to accept my assurance that my right honourable friend was satisfied that the activities of this priest were such as fully to justify the action taken against him.

As regards the funds collected under the direction of Mr. Macheriotis, your Lordships will be able to form your own conclusions as to the significance, in present circumstances, of the language of the appeals sent out by him. Whether or not these funds have left this country or have, in fact, been used would not appear to be of primary importance, and in any event my right honourable friend has no power to compel the production of accounts relating to them. In all these circumstances Her Majesty's Government do not feel called upon to express a view on the, point raised in the last part of the right reverend Prelate's Question.

THE LORD BISHOP OF CHICHESTER

My Lords, in thanking the noble Lord for his Answer to the Question, I should like to make a comment. The particular clergyman being in Holy Orders, it is rather a question of his responsibility to the authorities of the Greek Church—the Church of a country which is a very good friend and ally of this country. I know that the ecclesiastical authorities to whom Mr. Macheriotis is responsible are very sad about this matter. They speak of the great friendship existing between Greece and this country; they also speak of the length of time during which Father Macheriotis has been in this ceuntry—since 1952—and the fact that no complaints whatever have been made against him hitherto, either, so far as I know, to the Greek Embassy or to his ecclesiastical superiors.

A NOBLE LORD

Order, order !

THE LORD BISHOP OF CHICHESTER

I do not want to start a debate, but I should like most respectfully to express my regret that some other mode of representation did not at least accompany the course adopted by the Government.

EARL HOWE

My Lords, may I ask Her Majesty's Government whether this is not a fund for the dependants of those who shot our soldiers in the back and committed murder? Only the intercession of the Almighty prevented them from "doing in" an aeroplane with sixty-eight Service men, women and little children on board. I am surprised that the right reverend Prelate should get up as he has and ask such a Question, which must be of great comfort to our enemies.

LORD SALTOUN

My Lords, may I ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is not the first duty of Her Majesty's Government, and the peculiar duty of your Lordships, in the words we have just heard: to look to the safety and defence of the said Kingdom and Church and to act as rapidly as possible in that defence?

LORD MANCROFT

My Lords, I am sorry if the right reverend Prelate thinks that some, discourtesy was involved. I can assure him that no discourtesy was intended, but in view of the nature of the activities that led to Mr. Macheriotis's deportation, consultation with his superiors, which would inevitably have involved further delay, would not have been appropriate. After all, the nature of those activities invited some brusqueness.

VISCOUNT STANSCATE

My Lords, would it not be a good thing if we could have the words of this sermon—actually what was said by Father Macheriotis in his sermon? That is the first question. The second question is this: is it a fact that funds of this kind can be raised legally in Cyprus at the present time?

LORD MANCROFT

The words of the letters which form the substance of this Question are available to the noble Viscount in your Lordships' Library, in translation and in the original. If there is any further document which the noble Viscount lacks and which he would like, I will do my best to obtain it for him. With regard to his second question, I can say that collections in furtherance of the purposes of the terrorists would, I am certain, be illegal in Cyprus under emergency law. Collections for the sole purpose of helping dependants of detainees would probably not be illegal, though that point may not be beyond legal argument. However, the question of the legality or illegality of what Mr. Macheriotis was doing is not a point at issue. A conviction by a court of law is not a necessary condition precedent to the making of a deportation order. The view taken by Her Majesty's Government was that the activities of Mr. Macheriotis were intolerable in a foreigner who was enjoying the hospitality of this country, and he was therefore returned to the country of which he is a national.

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, what is the good of the noble Lord making this speech again and again? He has first of all to prove that this money was to be used for killing our soldiers. That has never been shown. He does not deny that it is a fund for the dependants of these people, thousands of whom are innocent and who are being subjected to fines and to curfews. He does not deny that a collection of that kind would be legal in Cyprus. As regards what was said by the right reverend Prelate about the Church, may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that Archbishop Athinagoras, who is in Istanbul and is the head of this Church, has made a public protest? Though I do not want to ask a further question, I would ask the noble Lord whether he has observed the provisions of the Convention which we have with Greece in respect of the deportation of people. There is a Convention of 1953 in existence which governs these matters. Has the noble Lord ever read it and has he observed its conditions?

A NOBLE LORD

My Lords, the terrorists will be deliehted with the noble Viscount's question.

EARL DE LA WARR

My Lords, I wonder whether the noble Lord could inform the House what he thinks would happen if Britain were lent a church in Athens and if the British incumbent there then proceeded to use it for the purpose of raising funds hostile to Greek interests.

LORD MANCROFT

My Lords, I cannot answer the question of my noble friend Lord De La Warr, and I hope I never have to do so. As to the second, third and fourth questions asked by the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, I have knowledge of the Convention but I do not think that supplementary question arises directly out of the Question asked by the right reverend Prelate. As to the position of the superior officers of this priest, the noble Viscount may like to know that my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has invited Mr. Macheriotis's superior to come and see him and to discuss the whole subject with him. As to the third question, there is no necessity whatever for my right honourable friend to prove or attempt to prove allegations which the noble Viscount has put in issue, but I should like to remind the House of the words of the authority given by Archbishop Makarios to Mr. Macheriotis and which Lord Stansgate may like to confirm: We do hereby authorise and here follow names of various persons under the chairmanship of Mr. Macheriotis a committee in order to carry out collections in England for the Cyprus National struggle". I should have thought that would suffice.

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, obviously it must be the subject of further inquiry. I can see nothing harmful in those words. The question I ask the noble Lord—

SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS: Order, order!

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, may I be allowed to read the terms of the Convention?

SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS

No.

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

"A consular officer shall be entitled"—

LORD MANCROFT

My Lords, would the noble Viscount allow me to interrupt him; he is always courteous. I want to answer his questions as fully as I possibly can and to hide nothing from him or the House. Her Majesty's Government have nothing to hide. I do not want to burke the issue for a moment, but as the noble Viscount is going far further than the terms of the Question and the information available to me at the moment, I think it would be preferable, in the interests of everybody, for him to put a question down and we will then consider the matter again carefully. I do not think casual questions and answers would serve anybody's purpose at this particular moment.

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, this is not a matter of casual questions and answers at all. It is a question of obedience to the law by the Home Office—which is not an Office which has been notable in the past for obeying orders.

My question was on the terms of the Convention: A consular officer shall he informed immediately either by the appropriate authorities of the territory when any national of the sending State is confined in prison or awaiting trial or is otherwise detained in custody within his district. That was the case of Mr. Macheriotis. That is a Convention which we signed three years ago, and the noble Lord comes here to explain this case and has not even read the Convention. My question is as to that Convention—

SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS: Order, order!

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, I can shout down the noble Earl if necessary, but it is not a decent thing to do. Has the Home Office complied with the terms of the Convention of 1953?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (THE EARL OF HOME)

My Lords, my noble friend could not have been more reasonable in his reply to the Question asked by the right reverend Prelate and the supplementaries, and he has placed certain documents in the Library. It would be very much better if, instead of asking questions which are really outside the scope of the original Question, the noble Viscount would put down any further Question he wishes to ask. There are letters from Archbishop Makarios to Mr. Macheriotis and letters from Mr. Macheriotis to the parishoners on whom he exercised pressure and they then complained. He was doing this under cover of the most respected profession in the United Kingdom, as a foreigner enjoying this country's hospitality, and I cannot believe your Lordships will feel that to send him back to his own country in these circumstances was an unjust punishment or that Her Majesty's Government were not right in that action. But if the noble Viscount has any more questions, would he put them down after studying the documents?

VISCOUNT STANSGATE

My Lords, I will put a Question, to ask whether Her Majesty's Government have ever read their own Treaty and complied with it.