§ MR. THORNTON (Clapham)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he will give a Return containing the names of any boroughs which, under the Redistribution scheme issued lately by the Local Government Board, were to be partitioned and not disfranchised, their voters being divided between neigh bouring divisions.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR, Leeds, Central)May I be allowed to answer this Question. Outside London no Parliamentary borough which is not disfranchised will be partitioned between neighbouring divisions. As regards London a Return is being prepared which, among other things, will give the information desired.
§ MR. THORNTONI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether the Committee selected to privately advise the Government as to the redistribution of London boroughs will apply to the local working-class clubs and other organisations for information as well as to political and municipal authorities.
§ THE PRIME MINISTER AND FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR, Manchester, E.)I can assure my hon. friend that all persons or instituti ns who may be thought to have valuable information to offer to the Committee or Commission upon this subject will have an opportunity of conveying their views.
§ MR. THORNTONasked whether candidates for Parliament would be informed as to the dates of the sittings.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI do not know anybody more interested than the candidates, and they will have an opportunity of communicating any information which they may have at their disposal.
§ MR. T. M. HEALY (Louth, N.)Will there be a separate Commission for Ireland?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURYes, Sir, there will be a separate Commission.