§ MR. T. DAVIES (Fulham)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now favourably consider the granting to the members of the Metropolitan police force one day's rest in seven, and accordingly make provision in his Estimates to enable him to put it into operation this year.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI am sorry that the financial difficulties in the way of this proposal which I mentioned last session have in no way diminished. Having regard to the large cost of the proposed change and to the present conditions of pay and service I do not think it would be right by simple executive action to place so large an additional burden on London ratepayers. Moreover, such action must inevitably affect the conditions of service and the pay in all the police forces in the country. I think therefore that the question cannot be confined to London and that careful examination of all its bearings would have to precede any decision.