§ 33 and 34. Commander Courtneyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) if he will give the names and diplomatic status of members of East European Diplomatic and Trade Missions who have been declared persona non grata over the past seven years for reasons of known or suspected espionage, with 11W dates of such declaration, and dates of leaving the country;
(2) if he will give the names and status of members of East European Diplomatic and Trade Missions, not being diplomatic agents as defined by the Vienna Convention, who have been required to leave the United Kingdom over the past seven years for reasons of known or suspected espionage, together with dates of such declaration, and dates of leaving the country.
§ Mr. M. StewartFour diplomatic members of East European Missions excluding the Soviet Union have been declaredpersonœ non gratœ since 1958. No non-diplomatic members of these Missions or of the corresponding Trade Missions have been required to leave the United Kingdom during this period.
In some of these cases, Her Majesty's Government decided that, once security or other requirements had been met by the expulsion, they were not justified in running an additional risk of prejudicing British interests in the country concerned by initiating publicity. On some occasions also the representatives of the countries concerned were told that Her Majesty's Government would not initiate publicity. I regret, therefore, that I cannot give the full details for which the hon. and gallant Gentleman asks.