SECRECY & PRIVILEGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 June 1938, Page 9

SECRECY & PRIVILEGE

DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENT IN COMMONS MILITARY COURT’S DEMAND ON MEMBER RULING BY THE SPEAKER (British Official Wireless.) (Reed This Day, 10.52 a.m.) RUGBY. June 29. Developments in connection with the questions of Parliamentary privilege raised in the House of Commons on Monday had a dramatic sequel in the House today, when Mr D. Sandy (member for Norwood) announced that, in his capacity as an officer of the Territorial Army, he had received orders to appear tomorrow in uniform to give evidence before a military court of inquiry. Mr Sandys appealed to the Speaker for guidance and said the question of how far it was permissible to compel a member of Parliament to divulge the source of information used by him in the discharge of his Parliamentary duties was in process of being considered by 7 the House, and in those circumstances he submitted it was a gross breach of the privilege of the House that he should be summoned before a military tribunal. The Speaker ruled that Mr Sandys had made out a prima facie case of breach of privilege. Mr C. R. Attlee (Opposition Leader), and Sir Percy Harris called attention to what they 7 regarded as the curious circumstances that, while the House had taken cognisance of certain incidents and on the motion of the Prime Minister (Mr Chamberlain) himself, a select committee was to inquire into these matters, the Army Council, for which Mr L. Hore-Belisha (Secretary for 7 War), and the whole Government, must take responsibility, had appointed a tribunal to inquire into cognate questions, and summoned a member of the House to appear before it in his military capacity. Mr Chamberlain contended that the appointment of a military court of inquiry was almost an automatic proceeding, and he and Mr Hore-Belisha argued that there was no question of the court of inquiry trespassing upon the privilege of the House or interfering with the inquiry of the select committee, which was directed to quite a different question. Mr Hore-Belisha said the purpose of the court of inquiry was to ascertain if, and if so how, an officer of the British Army had committed a breach of trust. It was in the public interest that such an inquiry should be held at once, because it could not serve any purpose that the leakage of secret information should be allowed without proper investigation being made. Mr. Chamberlain later announced that the War Secretary had agreed to ask the Army Council' to suspend the summons to Mr Sandys, as a Territorial Officer, until the Committee of Priveleges had reported on the prima facie case of a breach of privilege which the Speaker had ruled had been made out.