Spectator's Notebook
BIDAULT some little time ago entered this country with a passport genuine in all respects ex- cept that it was made out in another name. The Estimates Committee of the House of Commons determined to close this loophole and suggested that the book containing,.
it appears, 7,000 names of undesirables (including M. Bidault) should also carry photographs and fingerprints. Leaving aside the trifling point of how one obtains these iden- tifications, there is one further snag. Mr. Brooke explained the difficulty three times. 'If his real name is Brown and he gives the name of Smith, it does not help very much to have the photo- graph and fingerprints of Brown. . .
Needless to say, this simple proposition was fiercely challenged, and I recommend for light reading columns 1399-1401 of Hansard on May 6. I have been trying to think of a way to help. We might start with a volume of ex-French Prime Ministers. That would be quite enough for the immigration officers to remember.
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