HC Deb 17 March 1938 vol 333 cc617-8W
Mr. Boothby

asked the Prime Minister whether he will make a statement with regard to the date on which His Majesty's Government recognised the Italian Government as the Government de facto of virtually the whole of Abyssinia?

Mr. Butler

His Majesty's Government have, since December, 1936, recognised the Italian Government as the Governmentde facto of the parts of Abyssinia which they control. From time to time the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has, in the course of the past year, been asked for statements for production in His Majesty's Courts of Justice in connection with certain lawsuits in which the status of Abyssinia has been involved. The first of such statements was made on the 28th April, 1937, to the effect that, while detailed information was hard to obtain, such information as His Majesty's Government possessed tended to show that the Italian Government controlled the whole of Abyssinia with the exception of certain areas in the south and south-west of the country; that His Majesty's Government regarded the Italian Government as the Government de facto of the parts of Abyssinia which they controlled; and that while it was difficult to fix a specific date on which His Majesty's Government first accorded this measure of recognition to the Italian position in Abyssinia, it might be said that that position had been reached in the second half of December, 1936.

The last of these statements was made on the 29th December, 1937, when the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs repeated that His Majesty's Government recognised the Italian Government as the Government de facto of the parts of Abyssinia which they controlled; that according to the information in the possession of His Majesty's Government the Italian Government were then in control of virtually the whole of Abyssinia; and that therefore His Majesty's Government recognised the Italian Government as the Government de facto of virtually the whole of that country. No later statement by His Majesty's Government on the particular point at issue has been made.