Editing Duncan Sandys (section)

== Early career ==
Sandys entered the [[Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service|diplomatic service]] in 1930, serving at the [[Foreign Office]] in London as well as at the embassy in [[Berlin]].

He became Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Norwood (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwood]] in [[south London]] in a [[1935 Norwood by-election|by-election in March 1935]], at which he was opposed by an Independent Conservative candidate sponsored by [[Randolph Churchill]].

In May 1935, he was in effect saying that Germany should have a predominant place in central Europe, so that Britain could be free to pursue her colonial interests without rival.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1935/may/02/foreign-office#S5CV0301P0_19350502_HOC_285 ''Hansard''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106150802/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1935/may/02/foreign-office#S5CV0301P0_19350502_HOC_285 |date=6 November 2016 }}, 2 May 1935, cols.595–598.</ref> He was a prewar member of the [[Anglo-German Fellowship]]. 

In November 1936 Sandys put forward to the "1912 Club" a "fanciful vision" of England in 1950 (including ''peace in Europe'') .<ref> https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/KCC19361105.2.9?end_date=01-12-1936&items_per_page=10&page=3&query=Norwood&snippet=true&start_date=01-11-1936 </ref>

=== The Duncan Sandys case ===
In 1937, Sandys was commissioned into the [[51st (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery|51st (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade, Royal Artillery]], of the [[Territorial Army (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (TA).<ref>''Monthly Army List'' 1937–39.</ref> In 1938, he asked questions in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] on matters of [[national security]] that reflected his TA experience. He was subsequently approached by two unidentified men, presumably representing the [[secret service]]s, and threatened with [[prosecution]] under section 6 of the [[Official Secrets Act 1920]]. Sandys reported the matter to the [[Committee of Privileges]] which held that the disclosures of Parliament were not subject to the legislation, though an MP could be disciplined by the House.<ref>''House of Commons Paper 101'' (1938–1939)</ref><ref name = Holmes>Richard Holmes, ''Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors'', London: Harper Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-00-722570-5}}.</ref> The [[Official Secrets Act 1939]] was enacted in reaction to this incident.<ref>[[Clive Ponting]], The Right to Know: The inside story of the Belgrano affair, Sphere Books, 1985</ref>