MR. GIBSON BOWLESI beg to ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether it is the fact, as is stated in The United Service Gazette, that the Admiralty have forbidden Lieutenant Bellairs, R.N., to read at the United Service Institution a paper on the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal in war time, which Lieutenant Bellairs had been requested by the Council of the United Service Institution to write with a view to its being read; whether Lieutenant Bellairs' superior officer, Admiral Sir Vesey Hamilton, approved of and endorsed Lieutenant Bellairs' request for permission to read it; if he would state why 645 that permission was refused; and whether it is the intention of the Admiralty in the public interest that the facts connected with the strength of the British Fleet in the Mediterranean shall be kept secret and withdrawn from discussion?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHThe reply to the first paragraph of the question is, Yes. Permission was withheld in accordance with Article 682 of the Queen's Regulations. The Admiralty do not intend to sanction any departure from the Regulations by those who are subject to them.
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHI have replied to paragraphs 3 and 4. In paragraph 2 my hon. Friend asks me a question as to the advice or opinion given by an Admiral in the service of the Admiralty. Such questions are never answered.
MR. GIBSON BOWLESMay I point out that the right hon. Baronet has not stated why permission was refused?
SIR U. KAY-SHUTTLEWORTHI have stated that permission was withheld in accordance with Article 682 of the Queen's Regulations.