Mr Tom Driberg: As I have not got that Answer before me, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether she agrees that if the police themselves say that there has been every co-operation from an accused person he should not be handcuffed, as has been known to happen in certain cases?
Mr Tom Driberg: When my right hon. Friend says "We are in touch with the various organisations", does that represent a slight advance on anything he has been able to say previously? Can he say whether Mr. Mackawee is still in New York?
Mr Tom Driberg: Are soldiers Government employees?
Mr Tom Driberg: Not all facts are in order.
Mr Tom Driberg: In view of the great importance of the Minister of State's announcement that Mr. Makawee is in New York, can my right hon. Friend say whether he is definitely seeing, or has yet seen, Lord Caradon, and, also, whether Mr. Al Asnag is also in New York, since these two extremely able and intelligent resistance leaders are obviously going to be the leading members of the future Government of...
Mr Tom Driberg: Does my right hon. Friend's Answer refer also to H.M.S. "Mauritius", which he coupled with these staging posts in his reply to Question 30?
Mr Tom Driberg: All of us in the House have a high regard for all the people of Bermuda, whatever their racial background. Some of us wish that they all had equal rights. The hon. Member for Torquay (Sir F. Bennett) appears not to wish that, judging from what he says. He says that we should not stress any racial inequalities. But it is impossible not to draw attention to them when they are felt as keenly as...
Mr Tom Driberg: I entirely accept that. I said that I was paraphrasing the hon. Gentleman. He says "non-tranquillity". Presumably he means riots and disturbances, but who is going to start them? Presumably if this Constitution went a bit further and gave real justice—what the hon. Gentleman called, perhaps ironically, "true democracy"—to the people of Bermuda, he means that the dominant white oligarchy...
Mr Tom Driberg: I think that the hon. Gentleman is right, and HANSARD will show tomorrow exactly what he said. But I wanted to draw out some of the implications of what he said, because they seem to me to be a little dangerous. In introducing the Bill my hon. Friend explained that the Bill says practically nothing, as is evident to the House. There is nothing of substance in it about the Constitution. I...
Mr Tom Driberg: The hon. Member has not grasped the point that I tried to make — perhaps inadequately — earlier. The population of Billericay is not totally coloured.
Mr Tom Driberg: The hon. Gentleman is speaking almost as though it were an agreed Report. All shades of opinion were represented, but there was dissent and disagreement about the Report.
Mr Tom Driberg: He is still a member of the Labour Party.
Mr Tom Driberg: My hon. Friend has made a very serious attack on a former colleague of ours in the House, who gave a very good service here, and who is still, as far as I know, a member of the Labour Party. Would my hon. Friend at least not suspend judgment until this gentleman's book comes out shortly, when he will give a full account of his experiences in Africa and can then be judged?
Mr Tom Driberg: I find that both the Minister of State and I were right in our different ways. The Committee is still technically sitting, but the U.B.P. majority has decided to make no change. It is thought to be holding back the report until after this debate, so that the debate may not be adversely influenced.
Mr Tom Driberg: When my right hon. Friend discussed Vietnam with the President, was any reference made to the disclosure in Toronto that the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs had threatened total nuclear retaliation against China if China should enter the Vietnam war, even with conventional weapons?
Mr Tom Driberg: asked the Attorney-General what progress is being made by the Lord Chancellor's Committee en- gaged in the study of age of majority; how soon he expects that the report and recommendations of this Committee will be available to Her Majesty's Government; whether the report will be published; and if he will endeavour to expedite the work of this Committee.
Mr Tom Driberg: Would my right hon. and learned Friend convey that very welcome news to the Defence Ministers, since they are awaiting the arrival of this report before deciding the question of an option at the age of 18 for Service recruits who sign on for 12 years at the age of 15?
Mr Tom Driberg: Does my hon. Friend recall that the last controversial announcement by her Ministry on the raising of overseas students' fees was made in reply to a Written Question on the eve of the Christmas Recess? Can we have an assurance that that will not be done again?
Mr Tom Driberg: asked the Secretary of State for Defence why press photographers were barred from the recent visit, by hon. Members and the national and local press, to the Military Corrective Training Centre, Colchester; and if he will arrange for photographs of the controversial canvas suit to be released to the press.
Mr Tom Driberg: If there was nothing to hide, why not let it be seen?