– in the House of Commons at on 26 November 1934.
Mr Herbert Williams
, Croydon South
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any statement to make regarding the defensive alliance between Russia and France?
Mr John Simon
, Spen Valley
No, Sir, I have no information to indicate that there is any intention to conclude such an alliance. The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs officially denied on Saturday last the existence of any Franco-Soviet military agreement.
Mr Herbert Williams
, Croydon South
Are we to understand, therefore, that the statement in the French Chamber was based upon a misapprehension?
Mr John Simon
, Spen Valley
My only information of the statement in the French Chamber is what I have read in our own newspapers. I think we may rely on the official statement of the French Foreign Office denying the existence of any Franco-Russian military agreement.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
