§ Mr. A. Hendersonasked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the provision in the Anglo-Italian Agreement that the status quo in the Mediterranean shall be maintained, he will say whether such status quo included the present administrative control and status of the Suez Canal?
§ Mr. ButlerIn the Declaration signed in Rome on the 2nd January, 1937, and reaffirmed in Annex 1 to the Protocol 2483W signed in Rome in April last, His Majesty's Government and the Italian Government disclaimed any desire to modify, or, so far as they were concerned, to see modified, the status quo as regards the national sovereignty of territories in the Mediterranean area. The matters to which the hon. Member refers do not come within the scope of this Declaration; but Annex 8 to the Protocol of April last deals expressly with the Suez Canal Convention of 1888.