58. Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has now received a report from the British Consul on the ill-treatment given by the French Customs officials at Dunkirk on 11th to 12th February to Mr. and Mrs. George Adams, who were searched and kept under close guard for 24 hours with only one meal and whose possessions and jewellery were confiscated; and what steps he is taking to obtain satisfaction for Mrs. Adams and to protect British subjects against such treatment in future.
§ Mr. ProfumoYes. My hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has written to my hon. Friend giving details.
Mrs. Adams has now recovered her confiscated property.
The French Customs authorities have assured Her Majesty's Vice-Consul at Dunkirk that their officers behaved correctly throughout and that Mr. and Mrs. Adams were provided with a decent standard of comfort.
However, I am now asking the Vice-Consul to make further representations about the conditions under which Mrs. Adams was detained. He will do this both on her behalf and in the general interest of other British subjects who might find themselves in a similar position.