§ 57. Mr. Shinwellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what instructions he has given to the British Council to suspend cultural relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, including reciprocal arrangements for visits by artists from both countries.
§ Mr. Ian HarveyThe right hon. Member is under a misapprehension about the position of the British Council, which does not receive instructions from Her Majesty's Government. The Soviet Relations Committee of the Council, on which the Foreign Office is represented, has done a great deal to encourage Anglo-Soviet understanding. The Committee recently considered how Soviet actions in Hungary affected its work and agreed that, because of the feeling aroused in this country by these events, it was neither practicable nor desirable to proceed at the present time with goodwill projects previously arranged between them and the Soviet Government. This decision has, of course, no bearing on normal free contacts between British and Soviet people, where restrictions come from the Soviet side.