§ MR. CREMER (Shoreditch, Haggerston)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether any decision has been arrived at by the Government in regard to the holding of Public Meetings on the Horse Guards Parade; and whether any objection will be raised to the holding of meetings there, under the same rules and regulation as are applied to meetings in the Public Parks?
§ MR. MATTHEWSThe Rules of Hyde Park, of Battersea Park, of Regent's Park, and of Victoria Park allow Public Meetings to be held in those Parks, and the Government have no intention of altering the Rules of St. James's Park, which prohibit the delivery of Public Addresses on the Horse Guards Parade.
§ MR. CREMERAm I to understand by the answer given by the right hon. Gentleman that the meetings are not to be permitted on the Horse Guards Parade, and, if I have rightly interpreted the answer, has the right hon. Gentleman any objection to stating the reasons that induced Her Majesty's Government to arrive at that conclusion?
§ MR. MATTHEWSThe hon. Member has interpreted my answer quite correctly, and the reasons which induced 590 Her Majesty's Government to come to that conclusion are these: The Horse Guards Parade is situated in the centre of a large number of public offices, palaces, and public buildings, and in the immediate proximity to a large and important thoroughfare, and, in the opinion of those best competent to form an opinion, public meetings there and the assemblage of large masses of people going to the meetings, would be extremely likely to cause public obstruction.
§ MR. CREMERMay I ask whether the attention of the right hon. Gentleman and the Government has been directed to the fact that occasionally tens of thousands of people assemble on the Horse Guards Parade to witness military reviews, and on no occasion has there ever been a disturbance such as he fears?
§ MR. CONYBEAREAre we to understand that the proclamation of Sir Charles Warren is still in force?
§ The two latter Questions were not answered.