asked the Secretary of of State for War whether his attention has been called to the expenses necessarily incurred by battalion commanders of the Home Guard, many of whom are poor men; and will he arrange that essential out-of-pocket costs be met by the Government?

Existing instructions already provide for the reimbursement of essential out-of-pocket expenses by Home Guard commanders. If my hon. Friend has any particular item of expenditure in mind, I shall be glad if he will let me know, in order that it may be considered.

Do the Government desire that poor men should be able to have commissions in the Home Guard?

Very definitely.

Thank you.

Will the hon. Member have a word with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to see that these out-of-pocket expenses are not included in the assessment for Income Tax, as is done in the case of the Royal Observer Corps?

I will leave it to the hon. Member himself to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I cannot convince him.

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the sum per month allotted by the War Office to the Army Welfare Fund for each county for the provision of sports equipment, comforts, furniture and necessities for troops stationed in the county area?

Welfare funds are allotted to General Officers Commanding Home Commands in proportion to the number of men under their command. The total sum allotted for this purpose in the current financial year amounts to £70,000. There is also a grant of £5,000 to the Director of Voluntary Organisations to assist in the provision of wool to be knitted by these organisations into comforts for the troops. In addition a special grant is made in order to provide extra amenities for Auxiliary Territorial Service personnel who are posted to anti-aircraft units. Welfare funds are not intended to be spent on necessities, which are a normal Army provision.

Does the hon. Member realise that the allowance of the War Office to the Welfare Fund in one county that I know of amounts only to £10 per month, which is absolutely inadequate to provide real necessities for the anti-aircraft troops, who have no regimental funds such as well established units have? Is it not urgently necessary to increase this amount? Some counties are very generous, but others are not, and the men are suffering.

I think the hon. and gallant Member is under a misapprehension. The Welfare Funds are not in the main provided through the Territorial County Associations, but, as I said in my answer, are provided through the General Officers Commanding in each of the Home Commands.

But in the county of Berkshire they get only £10. The welfare officer has only £10 a month to spend. Apart from that, they depend upon charities, and a lot of these units have not even chairs.

I do not think that is the case.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether officers who relinquished their commissions after the last war and are now called up under the National Service Act will rejoin the service in their former rank?

No, Sir. The normal rules for promotion to commissioned rank apply to all men called up for military service under the National Service Acts, but any special qualifications that a man may possess as a result of previous military experience will naturally be taken into account in the selection of candidates for commissions.

Were not these officers told when they relinquished their commissions that they could retain their rank, and are they to be degraded now?

The hon. and gallant Member is referring to officers who relinquished their commissions after the last war. A great deal has changed in the methods of warfare, training and weapons since then, and it does not necessarily follow that an officer who gave up his commission at the end of the last war is fitted, without further training, to step straight in as an officer in the present war.

How are the War Office going to get out of the promise to these men that they should retain their rank?

No promise was ever given that those men would be re-employed in the Army in the rank which they had when they left.

Does this mean that an officer who had the rank of captain at the end of the last war can be called up now under the new Act as a private?

That is a fact. But in view of his past experience he will naturally be watched very carefully, and if considered suitable, he can, with very little delay, be posted to an officers' training unit and so receive a commission once again.

Is my hon. Friend aware that officers who had relinquished their commissions at the end of the last war were told that they would retain their rank?

asked the Secretary of State for War what is the present position in regard to the organisation and personnel for tracing the missing in various theatres of war; and whether he is satisfied with the work done?

In a theatre of war the task of tracing soldiers who are missing rests in the first place with the unit. Commanding officers of units report the names of missing men to Force Headquarters, where further inquiries are made. At the War Office a special section of the casualty branch is responsible for conducting inquiries for the missing. Apart from these channels of investigation, the missing man's comrades who are prisoners of war, are asked through the Protecting Power where, when and in what circumstances he was last seen. Valuable information is often supplied by the civil authorities and Red Cross societies in the territory where the operations took place. In cases where the territory is under enemy control, this information is collected and forwarded to us by the International Red Cross Committee in Geneva. In addition inquiries from patients in military hospitals are conducted by a panel of voluntary workers organised by the British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John.

Is it not a fact that there is really no organisation to do this work at the present time, and that it has been done by two or three voluntary workers of the Red Cross, who are zealous men but have now resigned from office, disillusioned because they cannot get any encouragement from the Red Cross authorities? Will the hon. Gentleman not get the War Office to take over this work? I can give him some evidence as to the facts.

The hon. Member seems to think that the responsibility for tracing the missing rests with the British Red Cross Society. That is not so. The War Office is and always has been responsible for this service. While it is very grateful to the British Red Cross Society for such additional help as it is able to give, the War Office has in no way farmed out its responsibility to any outside organisation.

asked the Secretary of State for War why, after the experience of Crete, inadequate steps were taken to protect the aerodromes in Malaya; what action has been taken in regard to the officer or officers responsible; and whether the War Office is responsible for similar defence in Burma?

All steps possible, within the resources available, were taken to protect aerodromes in Malaya. In all cases, the loss of aerodromes has been the result of a general advance of the invading forces. As far as I am aware, aerodromes have not been singled out for detailed attack by air-borne troops. The situation in Malaya is in no way comparable with that in Crete. There is no information to suggest that any officer responsible for the defence of these aerodromes has failed in his duty. As regards the last part of the Question, the Army is responsible for aerodrome defence in Burma.

Is the hon. Gentleman satisfied with the amount of defence that was provided at these aerodromes in Malaya?

Full information is naturally not yet available, but, as far as we know, every effort was made, within the resources available, to defend these aerodromes, and I regret the suggestion in the right hon. Gentleman's question that officers have failed in their duty.

Were the resources adequate? If not, why not? May we have an answer to that question?

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will give the name of the military spokesman in Cairo?

It is not the normal practice to disclose the names of individual members of military staffs. However, in view of the attention which this matter has received in the House I propose to make an exception in the present case. The two officers who have ably discharged the difficult duties of military spokesmen in Cairo are Brigadier E. J. Shearer and Colonel C. D. Quilliam.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply what steps he is taking, in view of the urgency consequent upon changed conditions, to acquire immediately all unnecessary metal railings for war purposes; whether, to this end, he will withdraw the scheduling by local authorities and so avoid the delay which this has permitted; and why, in particular, has no dismantling yet been made of the ornamental rails surrounding the offices of the Milk Marketing Board, to which his attention has been previously drawn?

The acquisition of unnecessary railings has been undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of Supply by the Ministry of Works and Buildings, and a systematic programme of recovery has been arranged from which substantial results are being obtained. Methods for expediting the scheduling of railings by local authorities are being investigated. As regards the last part of the Question, these railings will be dealt with when a clearance scheme for the district operates. It is impracticable to deal with special cases.

Is it not possible to arrange this scheme in some better way so that local residents are not asked to surrender their railings at a time when the Milk Marketing Board during the war are erecting and painting their rails? Will the Minister take steps to remedy this position which ought never to have been created?

My hon. and gallant Friend must bear in mind that transport is very limited and it is not always practicable to administer these schemes as one would like. Moreover we do not take the railings down here and there, but we move from district to district.

Is not the Minister aware that private residents were asked by circular for the removal of the railings from their houses while the Milk Marketing Board were erecting railings around their property? Will he take steps so that in the national interest this really ludicrous position is ended?

asked the Parlialiamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply whether, in view of the lack of supervision now being exercised by St. Thomas's and other hospitals in the sending out of circulars with the consequent wasteful expenditure of time, money and paper, he will now prohibit such circulation?

I do not feel we should be justified in prohibiting charitable circulars altogether, and I am sure we can rely upon the co-operation of charitable institutions in avoiding any waste of paper.

Will the Minister consider instituting an inquiry into the method of sending out these various circulars so as to avoid so many being sent to people now deceased, or to old addresses? Cannot what happened in my own case be avoided? A circular was sent by St. Thomas's Hospital to my grandmother who has been dead for nearly four years asking to purchase her land, although she never owned any land in her life.

We are aware of the desirability of saving paper, but I would not like to make it impossible for these staffs to carry on their task of collecting for charity.

Is not much paper wasted in the publication of filthy so-called literature?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply whether, in view of the fact that 86 per cent. of the world's supply of raw rubber is produced in the East Indies and Malaya, he is taking steps to establish factories for the manufacture of synthetic rubber, either in this country or the United States of America?

My Noble Friend is fully alive to the necessity of adjusting the supply and consumption of rubber by the extended use of substitutes for natural rubber and other means, and the method suggested will not be lost sight of.

asked the Minister of Information whether he has considered the effect of the broadcast of a so-called autobiography of Mark Twain on 14th December on the relations between this country and the United States of America; and whether he has taken any steps with the British Broadcasting Corporation on the matter?

My right hon. Friend has no reason to suppose that our relations with the United States have been prejudiced in any way by this broadcast, which was based entirely on facts drawn from Mark Twain's own autobiography.

Has the hon. Gentleman seen the script in this case?

I have read the script, and I think there is no ground for the hon. Member's fear that this production may injure our relations with America.

Has not the hon. Gentleman got into enough trouble already by reading scripts and then interfering?

asked the Minister of Information whether he is taking steps to revise the script of the series of plays on the life of Jesus, which are announced to be broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 21st December, in the children's hour, so as to avoid offence to Christian feeling?

No, Sir. It is not the function of my right hon. Friend to exercise jurisdiction over religious plays by the B.B.C., but he has shown the hon Member's Question to the B.B.C., and they have referred the plays once more to their Religious Committee which meets under the chairmanship of the Bishop of Winchester and contains representatives of the principal Churches in this country.

Are any steps being taken by the B.B.C. to prevent broadcasts, especially in the children's hour, that are offensive to Christian people?

No doubt the hon. Gentleman will appreciate that this is a delicate question of good taste. I think the committee referred to ought to be able to give competent advice on the subject.

Could not the Parliamentary Secretary, who is an expert on this subject, look through the manuscript?

asked the Minister of Information what steps he is taking to supplement the valuable lectures, given by Mr. Bernard Newman of his Department, to make more widely known to the people of this country the atrocities committed by the Germans in the occupied territories of Europe?

It is the constant endeavour of the Ministry by broadcasts, leaflets and other means, to familiarise the British people with conditions in Europe under German rule. I should be glad if my hon. Friend would give me any particular suggestions he may have in mind.

Would the hon. Gentle-man consider the wider circulation of the book issued by the Polish Republic upon the subject of the German occupation of Poland, and of similar authenticated books?

The Minister is prepared to consider all useful suggestions in that direction.

asked the Minister of Information whether it is the policy of His Majesty's Government to encourage revolt in occupied Europe, irrespective of what form that revolt may take?

It would not be in the public interest to give the information which the right hon. Gentleman requires.

Does my hon. Friend realise the value to our cause of every revolt against oppression, and in considering this question will he have regard to something beyond the immediate tragedy to the people concerned, and to the value of a good example?

With the utmost good will I must tell the right hon. Gentleman that I am unable to add anything to my original answer.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any information regarding conditions under which British subjects are living in the Channel Islands?

Such information as my right hon. Friend has, suggests that the economic situation is difficult, but it does not indicate that the population of the islands is being molested by the German garrison.

Is it not true that a state of real starvation exists there, through the people not being given enough to eat by the Germans?

No, Sir, I think that is an exaggeration of what is happening. There is no evidence to show that conditions in the Channel Islands are as bad as in other territories occupied by the Germans. Our sources of information are, however, extremely scanty.

What channel of communication is made use of—the Red Cross, or some neutral Power?

We do get some messages from the Red Cross through Geneva.

Is that all?

Did not a boy who escaped the other day from the Channel Islands say that the allowance of bread was only five ounces a week?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give an assurance that, so far as is possible, no Italian man accused of deeds of cruelty and oppression contrary to the usage and custom of war, committed against inhabitants of Ethiopia, will be included in any scheme for evacuation from that country until after evidence has been taken and, where necessary, custody in British control can be maintained?

Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he is aware that an omnibus belonging to the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company, in February of this year, damaged the home of two old people, Mr. and Mrs. J. Tuckwell, at 40, Oxford Road, Swindon, and that the company refuse to pay for the damage done; and whether he will see that the damage these old people have suffered through no fault of their own is made good by the company?

We have no power to require compensation to be paid for damage in a case of this sort, if indeed damages are payable. I will, however, make inquiries and will communicate with my hon. Friend.

asked the Minister of Aircraft Production whether he is satisfied that India's capacity to produce aircraft is fully employed; whether any offers or applications by Indian firms to produce aircraft have been declined; and, if so, on what grounds?

My hon. Friend will appreciate that it is not possible for me to disclose details of production plans, but I can assure him that although technical considerations limit India's capacity to produce aircraft, substantial orders have been placed there. The offer of one firm to produce aircraft was declined, after careful investigation, as the project appeared unlikely to be satisfactory. It is hoped, however, that this firm will undertake alternative work.

Can my hon. Friend assure the House that no political or Imperial considerations are being allowed to interfere with the production of aircraft in India?

Certainly, Sir.

The hon. Gentleman says that orders have been given; can he say that production is proceeding satisfactorily?

Orders have been given to one firm by the Government of India; they are producing trainers and bombers, and I believe the work is going on very satisfactorily.

asked the Secretary of State for India whether he is satisfied that the Civil Defence in India, especially the Home Guard section, is organised and equipped in a manner likely to be effective in case of need?

I would refer the hon. Member to the replies which I gave yesterday to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Wedgwood) and the hon. Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Sloan) on the subject of Home Guard and Civil Defence preparations in India. I have no doubt that all practicable measures are being taken to strengthen the existing services.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will give a list of the, approximately, 120 smaller refugee organisations to whom £83,691 has been granted between 1st June, 1940, and 31st October last, stating the sum that each has received; and whether there has been independent or Governmental supervision and audit of the funds placed at the disposal of refugee organisations?

:I will send my hon. Friend a list of the organisations referred to in the first part of her Question. The grants are payable through the Central Committee for Refugees, which is responsible for seeing that the organisations assisting refugees comply with the conditions on which the grant is paid, including a condition that the accounts must be properly audited.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether it is intended to provide any measure of compensation to naval ratings for the loss of their personal property when such loss is due to enemy action?

Provision is made in the Regulations for the payment of compensation to naval ratings for necessary articles of uniform clothing and equipment, etc., essential for their duties, when lost or damaged either afloat or ashore as a result of enemy action. No compensation is payable for personal articles of a non-Service character, but when such articles are lost by enemy action on shore they are covered by the War Damage Act. Men keep personal articles of a non-Service character on board ship at their own risk, and they are advised to insure them.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings whether the Report of the Committee on the Brick Industry has been received?

A first interim report has been received and is now under consideration.

When is that report likely to be published?

The matter is being considered, but it is only an interim report.

Will the usual report be published?

That is being considered.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings whether, in cases where the owner of any piece of building construction, whose total cost does not exceed £100, uses for that work material which is in his own possession, the £100 is deemed to include such material?

Yes, Sir.

asked the President of the Board of Education whether he will take action to allay the concern felt by teachers that, while boys taking a scientific course involving only a pass degree get exemption till July, 1942, with a further year at a university, honours students in non-scientific subjects are to be called up much sooner regardless of the fact that their qualifications may enable them to be more useful to the war effort?

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to anxiety aroused by the Memorandum of Guidance, recently issued by the Board to headmasters, with regard to the position of boys who are studying non-scientific subjects with a view to scholarship examinations; and, whether arrangements can be made to permit such boys who attain to scholarship standards to complete their period of study at school and have the opportunity of a year's course at the university, under approved conditions, before being called up for military service?

The need of the Armed Forces and of war industries for the service of persons with scientific and technical qualifications is very great. This consideration has been the sole factor in deciding that boys at school and young men at universities, who are due to register during the present academic year, and who are studying scientific and technical subjects shall have their calling-up deferred for a period if the appropriate Joint Recruiting Board so recommends. My right hon. Friend regrets the interruption of the educational careers of those who are studying non-scientific subjects, but he would not feel justified in pressing that these students should, in general, be treated differently from other young men. It has, however, been decided that a boy studying non-scientific subjects who is taking a scholarship examination during the present academic year shall at any rate be allowed to remain at school until he has taken that examination.

Are not students who are taking modern languages, for instance, as useful to the war effort as those who are taking a pass degree in science?

That is a matter of opinion, and those who are competent to judge and who have been consulted have not reached that conclusion.

asked the Prime Minister what proposals for the nationalisation of war industries have been submitted to the Government; and whether the House will be given an opportunity to debate them before a decision is reached?

Various schemes of this general character are, of course, from time to time publicly canvassed or suggested in Debate, but there is no kind of list that I could usefully supply, nor do I think that any special discussion is called for at this moment.

With regard to the proposals put to the Government by a political party of this House, will the right hon. Gentleman repeat the undertaking given by the Minister of Labour on 4th December that all such proposals must first come before the House?

I would refer the hon. Member to the speech made by the Minister of Labour.

Is that pledge repeated by the Government?

Under the Act which we passed 18 months ago, is it not the case that the Government, if they thought fit, could take any such action as they thought necessary without first having a general Debate in the House?

Yes, I think the hon. Member is quite right but the question asked by my hon. Friend below the Gangway was directed towards the procedure followed by this House.

Is not the position in each case judged on its merits, and when it is in the public interest to take over a particular industry the Government have actually the power to do it now?

The right hon. Gentleman is perfectly right; there are many instances in which the Government have taken action.

Will you consider the socialisation and not the nationalisation of industry?

May I ask a further question, because it is not clear where we stand? Will the right hon. Gentleman repeat the assurance of the Minister of Labour, regarding general proposals coming from this House for the nationalisation of war industries, that all such proposals must be considered by the House before they are considered by the Government?

I do not think my hon. Friend is correctly interpreting what my right hon. Friend said. It is not the custom of this House that the Government, when they make themselves responsible for any question of policy, should first bring it up in the House.

I am sorry to press the point, but it is important. The Minister of Labour stated that on a vital question of that kind all such proposals "will have to be put forward in the House," and that is the assurance I am asking to be repeated.

I do not think that is a correct interpretation.

It is a correct interpretation. I am quoting from the OFFICIAL REPORT.

The hon. Member need not worry; the Government have no intention of doing anything.

(by Private Notice) asked the Prime Minister whether he has any statement to make with regard to the Mission to the Far East, entrusted to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in July last?

Yes, Sir. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has been appointed Resident Minister of Cabinet rank at Singapore for Far Eastern Affairs where he will preside over a War Council. He will serve under, and report directly to, the War Cabinet, and will perform functions in the Far East broadly similar to those performed by the Minister of State at Cairo. Thus, he will relieve the Commanders-in-Chief, so far as possible, of various extraneous responsibilities with which they have hitherto been burdened, and he will facilitate the settlement on the spot of certain matters which would otherwise have to be referred to several Departments at home.

In view of the criticism in the Dominion Press of the shortage of aircraft in Malaya, may I ask whether the Commonwealth of Australia were consulted before that appointment was made, and whether they agreed to it?

The Government of Australia are represented on the Council over which my right hon. Friend presides.

Was the Commonwealth consulted before that appointment was made?

I must have notice of that Question.

On Wednesday evening I became aware that there was a Question on the Order Paper for answer on the first Sitting Day after 21st December which reflected upon the conduct of an officer serving under my authority:

[To ask the Secretary of State for War, whether he is aware that Mrs. Knox, Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, recently addressed 14 Auxiliary Territorial Service officers in Edinburgh; that she was insulting in her attitude; that, when officers asked questions, they were told to shut up; and what disciplinary steps he proposes to take.]

I am aware that it is contrary to the practice of this House to anticipate Answers to Questions which may be put by hon. Members, and I therefore communicated with the hon. Member for Dumbartonshire (Mr. McKinlay) who had put this particular Question on the Paper, and he has been good enough to withdraw it, thus enabling me to make a statement this morning. I took the view that a charge of this sort ought to be answered immediately, and that it is not only fair to the officer concerned, but, what is more important, necessary in the interest of the magnificent Service of which Mrs. Knox is the Director, that the matter should be disposed of before the Recess.

It is, in my view, contrary to the general interest that individual officers in the employment of the State should be pilloried by name without the opportunity of defending themselves or of being defended. I would remind the House that it is open to the Press to give publicity to such charges once a Question appears on the Order Paper. In this case wide publicity has been given to this Question. I desire to say with all the emphasis at my command that I have the fullest confidence in the Director of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and that I accept, without qualification, her personal assurance that the words alleged to have been used were not, to the best of her recollection, ever used.

After what I have said I do not believe that any sensible person will attach the least importance to a story of this kind. I therefore do not propose to inquire into the question whether the words were actually used, or into any other aspect of the hon. Member's Question, nor do I intend to take any disciplinary action against the Director herself or against the officers, who must, I am sure, have been the unwilling source of this frivolous allegation.

May I ask whether the time has not come when these malign rumours against the A.T.S. should be squelched once and for all?

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that all those interested in the women's Services will be deeply grateful for his prompt action in revealing the truth regarding these allegations? Also, anyone who has had dealings with Mrs. Knox will realise immediately that it is quite impossible that she should, under any circumstances, be insulting or rude.

Without casting any reflection on the Commandant referred to, or the Services generally, or the officers who are alleged to be implicated in this matter, do I understand from what the right hon. and gallant Gentleman said, that on no occasion will he consider a statement which is made reflecting on the conduct of officers under his command, that any allegation of that kind will not receive his consideration?

Most certainly not. I should certainly consider any reflection made, examine it from every angle, and satisfy myself with regard to it.

Did the right hon. and gallant Gentleman give notice to the hon. Member who put down the Question?

I said so.

Would the right hon. and gallant Gentleman not agree that the very worst way to kill an unfounded rumour is to refuse to inquire into a specific allegation merely on the assurance of the person concerned that, to the best of her recollection, those words were not used?

I have said that I am completely satisfied with the assurance given.

The question is not whether the right hon. and gallant Gentleman is perfectly satisfied but whether everyone else is. Does he realise that before the Question was put down it is probable that someone made that allegation and believed it to be true? If he now accepts, without evidence, someone's assurance to the contrary, that is casting a reflection on others, which is bound to have a very bad effect in the Force itself.

The hon. Member will see that it is not a substantiated charge. It is merely repeating in the form of a Question something that has been said.

The question is whether it was said or not.

On a point of Order. Seeing that Members of this House are supposed to have in their possession enough information to warrant the putting down of a Question, may I ask you, Sir, whether there is any means of calling upon any Member of this House to vouch, in front of a Committee or otherwise, for his reasons or grounds for supposing such a Question to be true?

I have often been asked, not exactly that question, but about allegations being made in Questions. I have always maintained that the Rule is, that any Member putting a Question which contains allegations should satisfy himself of and take the responsibility for the accuracy of his charge. I do not think I can go further that that.

On that point of Order. May I put before you, Sir, this aspect of the matter? The Answer which the Secretary of State for War has just given casts, by implication, a reflection upon the hon. Member who put this Question on the Paper. Therefore, I should like to ask whether the right hon. and gallant Gentleman has acquainted himself with the grounds upon which the hon. Member acted, or whether he has merely taken, as against the hon. Member's Question, the ex-parte assurance of the officer against whom the charge is made?

I have also seen the record of the meeting to which I believe this refers. There is no suggestion in that record that those words were used.

On a point of Order. On an occasion like this is it not the duty of the hon. Member who has put down a Question of this kind to attend the House when the matter is under discussion?

The Question is down for the first Sitting of the House after 21st December, not for to-day.

On a point of Order. The right hon. and gallant Gentleman has said he has seen the record of the meeting. Is not that now a document which the House is entitled to have?

Further to the point of Order. A very serious allegation has been made against the Commandant of the A.T.S., and in reply to that very serious allegation the Secretary of State has made a serious allegation against the Member of this House responsible for the Question. I ask whether it is not absolutely essential that an inquiry of some kind should take place, in order to exonerate either the hon. Member or the Commandant of the A.T.S.?

That is not a question for me to answer.

Further to the point of Order. May I ask whether the Minister is aware that he has produced no more evidence than the hon. Member who put down the Question?