HC Deb 09 May 1884 vol 287 c1852
SIR HENRY TYLER

asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether Her Majesty's Government have yet taken any steps, and, if so, what steps, to secure the safety of General Gordon?

MR. GLADSTONE

I answered this Question yesterday, and I can only repeat the answer which I then gave—namely, that explanations may be made upon the subject, but that those explanations are much more suited to an unrestrained statement in debate than to an answer to a Question; and that in no case could those explanations be extended so as to constitute a full answer to a Question which, among other things, evidently contemplates military contingencies.

SIR HENEY TYLER

The right hon. Gentleman has not given a simple answer to a simple Question—whether the Government had taken any steps whatever to secure the safety of General Gordon? [Cries of "Order, order!"]

[No reply.]