§ MR. KETTLE (Tyrone, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can now state if the sports competition for Government schools has been fixed by the Ministry of Education in Egypt, on the advice of Mr. Dunlop, for "Friday, 20th March; whether an announcement had previously been made that a mourning ceremony for the late Moustafa Kamel Pasha is to be held on that date; and whether, in view of the profound esteem in which the pasha was hold by the Egyptian people, he will instruct the British Agent to advise the Government to hold the sports competitions on some other date, and to allow the students of the schools to participate in the public tribute of respect to the memory of Moustafa Kamel.
§ MR. RUNCIMANMy right hon. friend learns that the usual date of the sports would have fallen within a few days of the mourning ceremony. In these circumstances it was decided some time ago to postpone them this year till 19th April, about a month after the ceremony. It is very much to be regretted that a statement which was the exact opposite of the truth should have been circulated.