HC Deb 11 February 1957 vol 564 cc118-9W
35. Mr. J. Howard

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will recover from the four students arrested in Hungary the expense incurred by his Department in saving the students from the consequences of their actions.

41. Mr. Chapman

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the cash total of special expenses incurred by his Department in connection with the recent arrest, release and repatriation from Hungary of four students; and, in view of their earnings from the sale of their story to newspapers, what steps he is taking to recover his Department's costs from them.

42. Mr. Grey

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the cost to his Department of the search for, securing the release of, and transport to Britain of the four British students in Hungary.

52. Mr. Rankin

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the total amount of expenditure from public funds involved in the liberation of the four students recently arrested in Hungary, maintaining them and transporting them to this country.

Mr. Ian Harvey

The ascertainable expenditure by the Foreign Office in connection with the four students recently detained in Hungary amounted to £143 1s. 3d.. Of this £104 1s. 0d. was for air passages from Vienna to London. The remainder comprises charges for telephone calls and the cost of journeys to the Hungarian and Austrian frontiers by members of the staff of the British Legation at Budapest and the British Embassy at Vienna at the time of the students' release.

In addition, 44 telegrams were dispatched to or received from Foreign Service posts abroad, but these were transmitted through official channels. The cost of transmitting them by commercial means would have been approximately £275.

It would not be in accordance with normal practice to charge British subjects for services rendered by the Foreign Office in affording them the protection and assistance to which they are entitled and which it is the Department's duty to provide. Steps are, however, being taken to recover the cost of the air passages from Vienna to London.