§ LORD BETHELLMy 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 what action they propose to take about the expulsion from the Soviet Union of Mr. David Bonavia, Moscow correspondent of The Times.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIE)My Lords, we have already informed the Soviet Government that we regard the expulsion of Mr. Bonavia as quite unjustifiable and one which is not easy to reconcile with proposals for the development of cooperation in Europe.
§ LORD BETHELLMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that Answer. Could she please tell us whether she has read the article by Mr. Bonavia in The Times to-day, in which he describes the harassment to which he and his colleagues in Moscow have been subjected? Is she aware of the very severe travel restrictions to which British journalists in Moscow are subjected, and will she consider whether the time has not come when we should retaliate in some way for this very unnatural situation—for instance, by imposing on Soviet journalists here the same restrictions that we impose on Soviet diplomats; that is to say, confining them to the area around London?
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIEMy Lords, I have not yet had the advantage of reading this morning's 1204 Times, but I certainly will do so this evening. As regards the question of travel and other restrictions, we do not think that we can impose on journalists exactly the same kinds of restrictions as suggested by my noble friend, because we have, so far as possible, always supported freedom of information.