"What I have said will have made clear my belief that Scientology is not merely ludicrous, which would not matter, but is potentially harmful to its adherents." The Minister of Health said this during a debate on the adjournment in the House of Commons last week. Opening the debate, the member for Horsham, Mr. Peter Hordern, said:
"It is my duty to bring to the attention of the House the case of a constituent
of mine, Miss Henslow, and an organization known as Scientology. The public
have been hampered in its knowledge of scientology by the fact that so far as
I can establish, on every occasion that the organization has been named by a
newspaper, that newspaper has been served with a writ of libel.
Mr. Hordern went on to describe the case of Miss Henslow in some detail. She
is a woman who had unhappily suffered a mental illness necessitating several
days in hospital. Then, according to Mr. Hordern, "In December 1965 she
met a man called Murray Youdell, a student scientologist at Saint Hill Manor,
East Grinstead. He persuaded her to apply for a job at that establishment..."
Miss Henslow was accepted as a fee-paying student of scientology in April or
May last year, and took lodgings in East Grinstead. She became confused, and
her mental health deteriorated. Mr. Hordern told the House how Miss Henslow
had written a letter to her mother, repudiating her, and how, at the end of
July, Mr. Youdell and another scientologist had brought Miss Henslow to her
mother's house, late one night, "dressed only in a nightgown and coat,
and in a completely deranged condition". The scientologists left, and Miss
Henslow "flew out of the house and dashed down the road, shouting at the
top of her voice. Fortunately, she turned into the police station." "I
hope," said Mr. Horndern,
"that I have said enough to show incontroberably that Miss Henslow's present
condition has been caused by her attendance at Saint Hill Manor. The Minister
will be aware of another case, the details of which I have sent him, and which
points to the same conclusion."
[...]