RUDOLF HESS (Hansard, 19 June 1980)

§ Baroness AIREY of ABINGDON
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, for many years successive British Governments, together with the Governments of France and the United States, have favoured the immediate release of Hess on humanitarian grounds. This remains our position. Numerous appeals have been made to the Soviet authorities, but the latter refuse to agree to the release. Hess is at present not ill enough to need hospital treatment. His permanent transfer to the British Military Hospital would in any case require 4-Power agreement and I can see no prospect of the Russians agreeing to this.

§ Baroness AIREY of ABINGDON
My Lords, while thanking my noble friend for his reply, which is not perhaps unexpected, may I pursue this matter? May I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that when my husband was in the House of Commons he fought for over 10 years for the release of Hess? And may I also ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that my husband had an exceptional experience of the Nazi régime and evils? He also had exceptional experience of Hess, because not only did he see him—as some of your Lordships here present also did—day after day at Nuremburg, but he saw him frequently in his cell and had many conversations with him. I know that if my husband were here he 1208 would press the question again, particularly at the moment when the son of Hess is in London. Therefore, I would ask your Lordships to urge Her Majesty's Government yet again to press the Russian Government to consider releasing this very old man.

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, I defer to no one in my admiration of the noble Baroness's late husband in this matter, as in all others. I can say that my noble friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Soviet Foreign Minister in September last renewing our call for release, but so far there has been no sign of a Soviet change of heart.

§ Lord ROSS of MARNOCK
My Lords, may I add my voice to the plea of the noble Baroness? I agree with every word she said. I remember it is nearly 40 years ago since I was a member of the first guard that was placed upon Rudolf Hess when he was brought into the HLI barracks in Maryhill and later into Buchanan Castle. Is it not time that this inhuman farce was ended?

§ Lord TREFGARNE
Yes, it is, my Lords.

Lord CAMPBELL of CROY
My Lords, while I recognise that the Soviet Union has been completely intransigent so far, may I ask whether my noble friend is aware that Hess has for some years been serving a sentence more severe than that meted out to him—namely, solitary confinement—simply because the others in the prison have either died or been released?

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, while it is true, of course, that there are no other prisoners left in Spandau Prison, it is, however, the case that Mr. Hess's conditions are not wholly unsatisfactory so far as they go; for example, he uses and enjoys the prison garden.

§ Lord ELWYN-JONES
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that those of us who were in the prosecution team at Nuremberg have for years stressed that the time had come for the release of Hess on humanitarian grounds?

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, I am aware of that, and I wholly agree with it.

§ Lord GORE-BOOTH
My Lords, as I have been engaged in this matter directly for some time, may I express my congratulations to the noble Baroness for raising this question and our thanks to her. Now that this matter has become a humanitarian question and has nothing to do with the older matters of war guilt and other crimes, may I ask the Minister whether this is now a case of simple persecution? If this is so, I would ask the Minister whether he would agree with my suggestion that he continues to write to the Soviet Government, since this is now a piece of pure human persecution and man's inhumanity to man, which has nothing to do with those old things. Those of us engaged in this matter would like to know from the Minister whether he will be good enough to continue to write to and talk to the Russians, who now have no case left, and who can be informed, if your Lordships' will accept my word for it, that those of us dealing with this case will go right on doing it and will not be put off by negatives of whatever kind.

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, I can assure your Lordships that the Government will continue to take every appropriate opportunity to press their views on the Soviets in this matter. As for why they continue to insist on his detention, I cannot answer for them. They have given various reasons. They claim, for example, that Soviet public opinion would not understand the release, which might encourage extreme Right-Wing elements.

§ Lord RENTON
My Lords, how much is this costing the British taxpayer?

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, I cannot answer that question without notice.

§ Baroness EMMET of AMBERLEY
My Lords, may I support my noble friend Lady Airey and ask the Minister whether he can make the Russians realise that time is not on our side in this matter? Hess is a very old man and unless something is done fairly soon it will be too late.

§ Lord TREFGARNE
My Lords, the noble Baroness is quite right. Mr. Hess is 86 years old.

The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES and FOOD (Earl Ferrers)
My Lords, I wonder whether your Lordships might think it appropriate to move on. My noble friend will have taken the flavour of your Lordships' questions and I am quite sure that he will report them to my noble friend the Foreign Secretary. If your Lordships thought fit, perhaps we could move on to the next business.