§ MR. MITCHELL-THOMSON (Lanarkshire, N.W.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War whether he is aware that the proposed removal of the headquarters of the Scots Greys from Scotland to England is exciting feeling in Scotland; whether, if the cost of refitting Piershill as a cavalry station is excessive, he will consider the possibility of providing fresh cavalry accommodation in Scotland for the headquarters of at least one cavalry regiment; and, if no such permanent cavalry station is maintained in Scotland, what steps he proposes to take to preserve intact the nationality of a Scottish cavalry regiment, and to maintain the number of Scottish cavalry recruits.
§ MR. HALDANEWhat has been done does not import the permanent removal of the headquarters of the Scots Greys from Scotland to England. The facts are that Piershill Barracks are insanitary as a cavalry station and cannot be adapted for this purpose, and it is therefore proposed to station the Scots Greys elsewhere until circumstances render it financially practicable to provide fresh cavalry accommodation. I am entirely in accord with the hon. Member that it is desirable to preserve intact the nationality of the Scottish cavalry regiment, and I have never said anything to the contrary. What, however, I must insist upon is that I cannot justify putting £200,000 on the Army Estimates for next year in order to provide in Scotland such barrack and training ground accommodation as is requisite 817 to give a cavalry regiment the same chance of training, according to the new standards of modern war, as it would have elsewhere. Important as local sentiment is, the interests of the Army and the nation as a whole are still more important, and Army reform would be impossible if this were disregarded.