Hogg Cleared Of Contempt

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30477, 26 June 1964, Page 11

Hogg Cleared Of Contempt

(NZ.P. A.'Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, June 25. Mr Quintin Hogg, a top Conservative Cabinet Minister, has been officially cleared on allegations thit he was guilty of contempt of Parliament.

An all-party House of Commons committee gave its riling after a three-month investigation of a ipeech by Mr Hogg, referring to Communist sympathisers in the Labour Party.

Mr Hogg, Mnister for Education, was one of the contenders to succeed Mr Harold Macmijan when he stepped down as Prime Minister late Mst year. The allegation against Mr Hogg, formerly i Lord Hailsham, was the fiist of its kind against a Britislf Minister for more than 25 wars. The complain) was brought last March byj Mr George Wigg, a leading back-bench Labour membtf of Parliament, after MrHogg had said in a public sjeech: "Our elbowi have been iarred in alrrpst every part of the world; by individual Labour menters' partisan-

ship of subversive activities. This is the paly which is now seeking power” Mr Wigg cßlmed this passage meant that some members of the* Parliamentary Labour Party “were engaged in subversive activities” and that, therefore, Mr Hogg had committed a contempt against the House of'Commons. The repoH said Mr Hogg had assured the committee that he had; not intended to refer in his i>eech to the Parliamentary Labour Party as such, neithej had he been referring to activities of any members of Parliament within the Houje or in their capacity as ff.P.s. It said Afr Hogg had said that the phtase he had used was “partisanship of subversive actitities” and by this he had not titended to convey

that any Labour member had himself engaged in any subversive activities. Today’s ruling comes only four days after Mr Hogg made a speech at a Conservative conference asking: “How many members of the Labour Party are in fact fel-low-travellers and Communiist sympathisers?” In his latest speech Mr Hogg referred to Mr Harold Wilson, the Labour Party leader, as an extremist and “a kind of Barry Goldwater in reverse.”