§ Captain W. V. FABEROn a Question of privilege, Sir, I wish to ask whether a paid servant of the Crown, such as the First Sea Lord, was in order in printing, or causing to be printed, 50 copies of a letter of a libellous nature affecting a Member of this House—namely, the hon. Member for Lynn Regis—and whether there is any precedent for this?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI understand that the hon. and gallant Member puts it to me as a question of privilege—whether it is a breach of the privileges of this House for a public servant to print such a letter as he has described. I have only seen an extract from the letter, and, as far as I have seen it, the character of the hon. and gallant Member for King's Lynn is not impugned as a Member of this House. Nothing, I think, is said against him in that letter as a Member of this House, and, therefore, no question of privilege arises.
416 Of course, whether the letter is libellous or not is not one for me to express an opinion upon. That is a question for the courts.
§ Captain FABERI bow to your ruling. I beg to give notice that I shall ask Mr. Attorney-General what steps he intends to take to protect Members of this House against the publication and circulation of libellous statements by a servant of the Government at the public expense.