§ 2.42 p.m.
Baroness WARD of NORTH TYNESIDEMy 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 was the result of the recent medical examination of Rudolph Hess and whether further consideration will now be given to his release from Spandau.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, it is not, I am afraid, possible for me to reveal the medical findings, which are confidential. I can, however, assure the noble Baroness that Hess's condition does not at present give cause for concern. The Joint Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr. Judd, summoned the Soviet Ambassador on 29th April to ask him to persuade the Soviet Government to agree to Hess's immediate release. The French and United States Governments have recently acted similarly. We await the Soviet response to these latest approaches.
Baroness WARD of NORTH TYNESIDEMy Lords, while thanking the noble Lord for a little encouragement in this matter, may I ask him whether he really thinks that the representations that we make are as firm as they could be? Could we have the representations that we make published in order that it may be absolutely certain that we are supporting —whatever the Russians may say—the release of this old and very ill man?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I can assure the House that our representations are firm and persistent. Of course we must act in concert with our fellow signatories of the Quadripartite Agreement. As to further publicity on what is being done, that is well worth considering; but I would repeat that we act as far as possible in concert with our fellow signatories, the French and the Americans.
§ Baroness EMMET of AMBERLEYMy Lords, may I ask whether consideration might be given to release on parole 238 rather than complete release, to which the Russians would never agree? Would the noble Lord not agree that release on parole might be possible and that we should pursue that side rather than the other?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, we certainly include that possibility in our representations on this matter. We could not, of course, undertake unilateral action in this matter. That would be seen, rightly I think, as an infringement of the Four-Power Agreement.
Baroness WARD of NORTH TYNESIDEMy Lords, would not the noble Lord agree that sometimes it might be a good thing to say to the Russians: "If you are not going to help to do what we think is right in this case, we shall oppose you on other matters: tit for tat"?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I can only reply that we shall certainly take seriously the advice given by the noble Baroness.
§ Baroness ELLESMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether any consideration has been given to the putting of pressure on the Russians to release Hess under the general terms of the Belgrade Meeting in June? Surely that would be a humane act which would be welcomed by all parts of the world, and it might put the Russians in a more favourable perspective on that occasion.
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSThat, my Lords, is a possible avenue of approach. Of course, there is nothing specifically related to this case in the Final Act; but no possibility of acting in a humane way in regard to this case will be overlooked by Her Majesty's Government.
§ Lord MONSONMy Lords, could the noble Lord say whether there is any truth in the theory that the real reason why the Russians do not want to release Hess is that he is one of the few surviving individuals to possess embarrassing inside information—possibly about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact—which the Russians do not wish to be revealed to the world at large?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I think it would be inadvisable for 239 me to speculate upon Russian motivation beyond what I have already said to the House as to their attitude.