§ Mr. FALLEasked the Home Secretary if he can make public any of the reasons which induced him to refuse the request of the Mayor and Corporation of Portsmouth that the borough should be included in the list of the cities of the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. UREThe answer is in the following terms: I gave the most careful consideration to the application that Portsmouth should be raised to the rank of a city, but during the reign of his late Majesty it was found necessary, in order to maintain the value of the distinction, to lay down a rule as to the minimum population which should ordinarily, in connection with other considerations, be regarded as qualifying a borough for the higher status. It was chiefly in view of this rule that, to my great regret, I was unable to recommend that Portsmouth should be made a city.