IOR/L/PS/12/2165

This file concerns the British Government's response to what are described as 'disloyal and defeatist' comments made by Harry St John Bridger Philby to Allied and neutral officials in Saudi Arabia on the subjects of British policy in the Gulf and the Allied forces' war efforts. (The abbreviation 'Qn' in the title stands for 'Question'.)

The file includes extensive discussion about whether Philby's Indian Civil Service pension can and should be withheld on the grounds of 'grave misconduct'.

The correspondence also covers the following:

• Whether, as an alternative measure, the British Government should seek to prevent Philby from travelling to territories where his views would be 'an embarrassment to British interests.'
• Details of Philby's service as Chief British Representative in Transjordan between 1921 and 1924.
• Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] views on Philby.
• Arrangements for Philby to be arrested upon his arrival in Karachi, under Section 26 (1) (b) of the Defence of India Rules, before being deported to Britain.
• The findings of a Home Office Advisory Committee on whether Philby's forcible removal from Karachi to Liverpool in August 1940 was lawful (in the correspondence it is acknowledged that Philby was deported without a formal order having been issued under Section 26 (1) (a) of the Defence of India Rules).
• Philby's release, following the revocation of the detention order made against him.
• Details of the possessions seized from Philby upon his arrest.

The file's principal correspondents are the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Hugh Stonehewer Bird); the Political Agent, Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior); Harry St John Bridger Philby; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Home Office, and the Government of India's External Affairs Department.

In addition to correspondence the file includes a copy of Foreign Office instructions for the impoundment of Philby's passport and a copy of Section 26 of the Defence of India Rules, as published in the Gazette of India, 3 September 1939.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).