§ BARONESS STOCKSMy Lords, I beg leave 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 information is available concerning the progress of the inquiry by Sir John Foster into "the practice and effects of Scientology" announced by Mr. Crossman on January 27, 1969.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY (BARONESS SEROTA)My Lords, the inquiry is still in progress and I cannot yet say when it will be completed.
§ BARONESS STOCKSMy Lords, I should like to ask my noble friend whether she can throw any light on the nature of the inquiry, which has been going on since January of last year; whether, for instance, any attempt is being made to follow up the case history of those mentally disturbed persons who submitted to the ministrations of these pestilent and apparently affluent mountebanks, and whether any attempt has been made to trace the source of the funds which enabled them to spend very largely on the circulation of what is really defamatory literature and on litigation in which they are indulging at the moment?
§ BARONESS SEROTAMy Lords, the inquiry is being held in private, and the method of conducting the inquiry is entirely a matter for its chairman, Sir John Foster.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (LORD SHACKLETON)My Lords, the noble Lord in expressing a hope is not asking a question in the usual sense of the word.
§ LORD WADEMy Lords, may I finish my question? I was intending to incorporate in the sentence a question. I am aware, of course, that my remarks must be in the form of a question. May I ask the noble Baroness whether she can give any indication of when this inquiry will be completed? There is 749 some urgency about the matter. I certainly receive a continuous stream of literature from this source, which gives one the impression—
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, may I interrupt the noble Lord? We are becoming very lax. He is making a large number of points and I am afraid that the House will think he is beginning to go too far.
§ BARONESS STOCKSMy Lords, may I ask my noble friend whether she is aware—I am quite sure she is, but I am doing the right thing—that at the moment the Scientologists are conducting a campaign aimed at the breaking up and frustration of the projected conference of the National Association for Menial Health, at which I believe Mr. Crossman is engaged to speak?
§ BARONESS SEROTAMy Lords, in reply first of all to the noble Lord, Lord Wade, I thought that in my first Answer to the noble Baroness's Question I had made it quite clear that it would not be possible for me to say when this inquiry would be completed. But it is of course still possible for any written material to be sent to the inquiry, and I can give the noble Lord the address. With regard to the noble Baroness's question, we are aware of the situation to which she has referred, but the legal action which a number of Scientologists have taken against the Association in respect of their membership has not been heard, and I am sure the House will agree that at this moment of time it would not be proper for me to comment.