HC Deb 14 May 1908 vol 188 cc1323-4
MR. KETTLE (Tyrone, E.)

On behalf of the hon. Member for East Mayo, I beg to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what is the extra charge now borne on the revenue of Egypt in consequence of the increase of the British garrison which followed the Denshawi affair; and whether the time has come when Egypt may be relieved from this burden.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. GREY,) Northumberland, Berwick

The extra charge borne by the revenue of Egypt in consequence of the increase of the Army of occupation in 1906 is £50,000 a year. As regards the remaining portion of the hon. Member's Question, I beg to refer him to the Reply returned by me on 12th March to the Question asked by the hon. Member for East Tyrone, and I must once more point out that the increase referred to was decided before the Denshawi incident took place and had no connection with it. There was no increase made in consequence of the Denshawi incident. A considerable reduction of the garrison had been made a year or two previous to 1906. Events which occurred early in that year made it necessary to increase the garrison again, which was done as the result of a review of the general situation.