SIR HENRY HOWARTH (Salford, S.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is with the sanction of the Government that the Per 489 manent Secretary to the Board of Trade has been making speeches and discussing polemical issues at public meetings; and whether it is in accordance with precedent that the permanent officials in the various Government departments should join in the public discussion of controversial matters?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.I have to say that my attention has not been called to the speeches to which my hon. Friend refers. There are Treasury minutes restricting the action of Civil Servants in regard to political matters, but those minutes do not cover so wide a ground as that described by my hon. Friend in the second paragraph of his Question. There is, however, an understanding that Civil Servants shall not take an active part in public controversies, even outside the domain of politics, without the consent of the head of their department, and in my opinion it is desirable that this understanding should be adhered to.