Mr. STANLEY WILSONasked under which Admiralty Vote and which sub-head will be included the expenditure necessary for the provision of free railway tickets and for other entertainment for Members of Parliament and their families on the occasion of the Naval Review?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe expenditure will be borne under sub-head Z of Vote 11, "Miscellaneous Payments and Allowances."
§ Mr. MacNEILLWill the right hon. Gentleman tell us the precise expense of this delightful little book which everyone was given? It is an it inerary of the course, and a kind of a cross between a libretto and a funeral service?
Mr. ARNOLD HERBERTAre we to understand that, in future, when we ask for money for the Navy, we are really voting money which can be used for our own entertainment?
§ Mr. McKENNANo, I do not think the hon. Member can fairly ask me that question. The amount involved is so small— the whole cost is only £800—and it affords an opportunity for Members of both Houses of Parliament to see the British Fleet. I do not consider that in the interests either of the country or of the Government itself it is a bad thing for Members of Parliament to see the fleet.
§ Mr. DILLONWill the votes of all Members who were brought down to see the Fleet at the public expense be struck out when we come to the next Vote for shipbuilding?
§ Mr. McKENNAI will answer that with an emphatic negative.
§ Mr. MacNEILLI do not think I heard the hon. Gentleman's answer correctly. Do I understand that Peers, too, are to have their travelling expenses paid?
§ Mr. McKENNAYes. The travelling expenses and the general arrangements were in a single contract.
Mr. STANLEY WILSONWould it not have been cheaper to send Members of Parliament to visit the Fleet when it was in the Thames?
§ Mr. McKENNANo. I think it would be quite impossible to have got a contract any cheaper than to send Members of both Houses to Portsmouth and to provide them with a lunch for £800.
Mr. ARNOLD HERBERTasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the Lords of the Treasury, purporting to act under a general authority, have sanctioned the expenditure by the Admiralty of money voted by Parliament for the service of the Navy in the provision of free railway tickets and other entertainment for Members of Parliament and their families; and whether he will make provision in future, by amendment of the Appropriation Act or by any other necessary means, that moneys voted by Parliament for the service of each Department shall be incapable of being used, with or without Treasury sanction, for the direct personal benefit of Members of Parliament, who themselves vote the supplies and are themselves trustees of the public purse?
§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Asquith)The fact that Treasury sanction has been given for the expenditure in question in no way precludes the Comptroller and Auditor-General from reporting it to the House of Commons if, in his opinion, it has been incurred for a purpose other than that for which the grant was intended to provide. In the event of its being so reported it would be for the House to take such action as it might see fit. The terms of the Appropriation Act as they at present stand seem to me sufficiently to preclude the charge against the grants of any expenditure which cannot be shown to arise directly in connection with the administration of the respective Navy Services, and I do not think it would be either desirable or practicable to introduce into the Act such a stipulation as my hon. Friend suggests.
Mr. ARNOLD HERBERTIrrespective of the amount of this expenditure, is it not a matter of most important public policy that Members of the Legislature should not be asked to vote sums for their direct private benefit?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI hardly think this falls within that category.
§ Mr. MacNEILLIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the representatives of an office created under Statute, when they attempt to entertain themselves at the expense of the public, are surcharged? Is there to be one rule for a corporation and another for the House of Commons?
§ The PRIME MINISTERI pointed out that the Comptroller and Auditor-General, if he thought the expenditure ultra vires, would say so, and report to the House.
§ Mr. LONSDALEIn view of the intervention of the hon. Member for Donegal, will the right hon. Gentleman consider the desirability of withdrawing the return half of his ticket?