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Doth a foe tte 9 ae hoop ayaa cust oct eee CHAPTER XxIy, | 200 00" eer Lith wan a 3 . ‘THE SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY. Tek 287. "lai i the thin pct ong ten of rte. You ted Bi “to investigate any i information or material which may come to (my) attention in this connection (The Profumo affair) and to consider any evidetice there may be for believing that national security has been, or may | be, endangered ”. ” 288. “In announcing the terms of reference to the ‘House ‘of Commons on 17th June, 1963, you said “It will be within the knowledge of many Hon. Members that in connection with the recent episode, rumours are circulating which affect the honour and integrity of public life in this country and, if they were true, ©, might point to a security risk. Such a situation cannot be tolerated.” .. 2 ag +, pe wile ete tee et 289, I have felt some concern at the scope of this part of my y Inquiry There have been many rumours lately concerning the honour and integrity of public life in this country, and I infer from your statement in Parliament that you envisage that some of them might come within the scope of my Inquiry. » 290. How far ought I to inquire into rumours? As I interpret my terms of reference I must inquire into them when two conditions are satisfied: |: (a} The romours must arise out of the circumstances leading to the resignation of the former Secretary of State for War, Mr. J. D. Profumo; or, more shortly, they must arise out of “ The Profumo affair”... —: (6) The rumours must be such that, if true, they may give rise to the belief that national security has been or may be endangered: of, more _ Shortly, that they point toa “ security | risk”. a @ When do Rumours * Arise out of” the Profumo Affair? _ 291. So interpreted, however, there is yet another question to solve 0 on the first condition ; when can a rumour be said to arise out of the Profumo affair? Some of the ramours gave rise to no difficulty, such as a rumour that a Minister was associating with Christine Keeler or one of the Ward girls, or a rumour which was traced to statements made by those girls to the newspapers. Those rumours arose directly out of the Profumo affair and no one has doubted that it is within my terms of reference to inquire into them. But there were other rumours which arose indirectly out of the Profumo affair, in this sense, that they would probably never have seen the light of day, or at least never have received credence, were it not for the Profumo affair. The admission of Mr. Profumo that he had lied to the House of Commons so shegit’ the confidence of the people of this country that they were ready to rumours which previously they would have rejected out of hand. Ne” was the denial of a Minister to be accepted. The word of any informer, \gubeve bad his character, might be preferred to the word of a Minister. And infutuners abounded. They saw a chance of making mofiey by telling their stories to the newspapers as Christine Keeler did. Hencé rumours spread. ~ for [A -