§ 2. Mr. GEORGE TERRELLasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Royal Commission presided over by Lord Fisher on the use of oil fuel for the Navy have yet presented an Interim Report, and, if so, when it will be available for the use of Members?
§ The FIRST LORD of the ADMIRALTY (Mr. Churchill)As I informed the Noble Lord the Member for Portsmouth on the 10th February last, the inquiry throughout is strictly confidential.
§ Mr. G. TERRELLMay I ask if the Commission has reported?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe inquiry is strictly confidential and I must not trench upon that character which it possesses, but I do not think I do so when I state that there have been several interviews.
§ Lord CHARLES BERESFORDMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it is not a fact that the House ordered the Royal Commission to report as to the use of oil fuel in the Navy, and whether it is not the constitutional right of the House to receive the Report of its own Royal Commission? Further, has there ever been a Royal Commission ordered by the House which has not reported to the House?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThat is a constitutional question which I am not prepared, without notice, to debate. There can be no question as to the Report of the Commission being made public, nor as to the evidence taken before it.
§ Lord C. BERESFORDMay I refer to you, Mr. Speaker, on the question whether, when the House orders a Royal Commission to report, the House has the right to receive the Report?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI cannot conceive of the House ordering a Royal Commission. A Royal Commission is ordered by His Majesty, and He does not take orders from the House. As to the House receiving the Report, I should have to consider the nature of the particular Commission, as in this case I do not bear in mind at the present moment the particulars.
§ 3. Mr. G. TERRELLasked the First Lord of the Admiralty the number of first-class battleships and cruisers built or building for the Navy which are designed to use oil fuel only; and what will be their total monthly consumption of oil when in full commission?
§ 12. Lord C. BERESFORDasked the number of battleships, cruisers, torpedo craft, and fleet auxiliaries, in their different classes, built or building for the Navy, which are designed to use oil fuel only; and what will be their total monthly consumption of oil when in full commission?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLIt is my intention to deal as fully as their confidential character permits with the important questions connected with the use of oil fuel for the naval service when I make my statement on Vote 8. I cannot promise to go into precise details of consumption.
§ Lord C. BERESFORDMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman if he is aware that the coal consumption of the Navy is public property, and why should not the oil consumption?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThese are matters on which the opinion of those responsible for the maintenance of the Navy must be allowed to prevail. There are special reasons connected with oil which differentiate it from questions connected with the coal supply.
Mr. FREDERICK HALL (Dulwich)Will the right hon. Gentleman issue a statement to the House as to the questions we are able to ask, and to which we are likely to get replies, considering that generally the reply we get from the First Lord of the Admiralty is that the information asked is confidential?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLI do my utmost to supply all the information in my power without detriment to the national public interest, and in that respect I can only claim such support as the House will give me. If the House is not satisfied with the amount of information given by a Minister, or thinks that the argument of confidence is being abused, the House has the remedy entirely in its own hands.
§ 11. Lord C. BERESFORDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will lay upon the Table of the House the contracts for supplying the Navy with oil fuel?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe answer is in the negative. I know of no reason which would justify me in departing from the usual long established practice which the House has repeatedly approved where the supplies of important munitions of war are concerned. Subject to this qualification, I hope to make a general statement on the subject of oil fuel when Vote 8 is under consideration.
§ Lord C. BERESFORDWill the right hon. Gentleman say anything about the contracts in his remarks to-morrow?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLNo There is no reason which would justify me in departing from the usual long established practice of which the House has repeatedly approved that the details of these contracts should not be made public.
§ Sir GEORGE YOUNGERWill the right hon. Gentleman name the firms which have got the contracts?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLNo. I shall not.