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en 489) = Former € ... Office 7 NOVEMBER 1955 into the leak, the narrowing of the sus- picion down to Maclean, and the escape of the two traitors —that Government took a number of steps before, during and after their flight. When the present Government suc- ceeded in October, 1951, much had already been done to investigats the whole circumstances of the case and to improve our sscurity measures. From that point, the responsibility rests with them. th: The White Paper publist red on 23r September has given a short, but, I be- lieve, correct and objective, account of the story of these two men and of the various incidents that surround this Strange drama. I have seen a large number of criticisms in the Press and else- where arising from the White Paper, and 1 fear it will be necessary to deal with them in some detail, First, dhere is the general question ot the amount of information enven 10 the public. We are accused of having said too little and too Jate. Secondly, there are the detailed criticisms of the way the affair was dealt with throughout its various stages. The chief points at issue are, I think, as follows. - There is the question of the original appointments of Maclean and Burgess inergent as they were. There is the question of their progress in the Service. There is the question of whether, in view of ceriain incidents in their careers, Mac- Jean and Burgess sbould have been dismissed the Service, or, at least, whether they should have been ted as they were. There is the question of the watch kept upon Maclean when he became suspect. There is the question of the escape of Maclean, and how he got warning, and whether he should have been prevenied from leaving England taking Burgess with him. There is the question of the defection of Mrs. Mac- Jean. There is a general criticism of the incompetence or inefficiency of the security -measures taken both by the Forciga Office aod by the _ Security Service. IT will try to o deal with all these if I can, but before I do so perhaps the House will allow me to make one of two preliminary observations. It has been stated that security in the Foreign Office ought to be in the hands of ne2 Sag nae a ee ee a oe eee ee koe re . Officials wrisappearance 1490 the Security Service. Foreign Service officers who are dealing with security are amatcurs or are doing a job for which they have no background or training. At present, as the House a eat te nine ae ie natin, Bek a cui tle Rk Co kale Sn aw — tle ila a i her mami nian x r fee - thaps knows, each public Department | 1s responsible for its own security—the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Supply. and all the other public Departments. The officials who are for the time being - in charge of this work are in the closest It is argued that — . and most constant touch with the Security | Service and continually scek their advice, *~” and I know of no case where their advice has been disregarded. ~ ©. **: It is true that the Foreign Office officials—it is true For the Ministry of - Supply or other Depariments—are amateurs in the sense that they do not . spend their whole carcers upon this job. Nevertheless, this has a corresponding advantage, for it means that an increasing number of officers in the Service, both at home and abroad, gain BUINE experience of security work. Security work in the Foreign Service really falls into two categories. Many hon. Members will know this well. There is what one might call the physical and technical side abe boxes, the keys, the ciphers, the pre- cautions against listening in apparatus, and all the rest of that side of it, — Then there is what one might call the human side, involving personalities. I is argued that members of the Service itself have a natural reluctance to report _ adversely on or to take action against their own collezgues. But I believe—I hope the House, on reflection, will share this view—that, broadly speaking, security us well as efficiency is better safeguarded in this way and a due sense of Fespon- sibility is thus maintained, 7 For my part, I am not much attracted _ by the only other aliernative, that there should be” a kind of N.K.V.D. or Ogpu- -- system in our public offices: in other - words, that everybody, wherever he goes and whatever he does, bigh and low, should be watched by an appropriate officer of a police department Mr. Percy Daines East} Ham, North): ~ rose taney . Mer. Macmillan: to make, Perha develop what I or 1 have a Jong. speech T might be allowed to ave to say in detail, ... Pi 8 . ee ee ee ne a 7 a * Tv . 2 ge ee eee ee oie Qe ae : ‘ . a a cmatnhs sanniei~ mediastinal aniline Vi ae * ' tat er in Pa . . : ’ i 1 ran '