§ MR. BRANCH (Middlesex, Enfield)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for War if he is able to give the House any information as to the means by which the services of the band of the Royal Artillery were obtained for a meeting of the Prim rose League at Southgate on the 22nd June.
§ MR. HALDANEThe applicant appears on inquiry to have been under the impression that an entertainment to 1164 Members of the Primrose League given at his own expense and in his own grounds would not be a political meeting. Moreover, he has informed the Army Council that the statutes of the Primrose League declare that this League is independent of Party politics. The view of the Army Council is that both of these impressions were erroneous, and the applicant has been informed that the statement which he originally made that the meeting for which he asked for the services of the band would not be a political one was in military opinion ill-founded.