§ DR. SHIPMAN (Northampton)To ask the First Commissioner of Works if he will explain by whose authority and why there was forbidden to be placed on the statue of the late Lord Beaconsfield, on the anniversary of his death, a shield, composed of primroses and forget-me-nots, bearing a quotation from one of his utterances.
(Answered by Mr. Harcourt.) I gave instructions, in conformity with previous practice, that any wreath bearing an inscription which might cause pain to Lord Beaconfield's relations or political admirers should be removed, in order that the anniversary of his death and the statue erected to his memory should not lie made the occasion or the platform for current political controversy.