§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received about the repatriation of the remains of General Sikorski to Poland; what replies he has made; what consideration has been given to the wishes of the family; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Tim RentonIn 1981 the Polish authorities proposed that the remains of General Sikorski be removed to Poland. My right hon. and noble Friend the then Secretary of State for the Home Department, Lord Whitelaw, considered a formal application from Major Kycia, acting as Madame Sikorska's executor, for a licence to remove the remains from Newark cemetery to the crypt of the cathedral in Krakow. The Home Secretary fully and carefully considered all the issues involved. He was unconvinced that the relevant criteria for agreeing to a licence had yet been satisfied, and did not, therefore, grant the licence. That decision was recorded in a reply he gave on 30 June 1981 to my hon. Friend the Member for Davyhulme (Mr. Churchill). It was also conveyed to Major Kycia and to the Polish Government.
The Polish Embassy raised the matter again with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983. The embassy was informed that the Home Secretary regarded the 1981 application for a licence as concluded. Later in 1983 a letter to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister from the Association of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy in Warsaw was answered on my right hon. Friend's behalf by Her Majesty's ambassador at Warsaw in the same sense. That remains the position.