§ Sir IVOR HERBERTasked the Undersecretary of State for War whether he can state the grounds on which it has been decided by the military authorities to limit the attendance of Welsh Territorials at Cardiff on the occasion of the visit of His Majesty the King on the 26th instant to Glamorgan units only; whether that decision is approved by the Government, and whether, having regard to the fact that His Majesty's visit to the first city of Wales is expressly for the purpose of inaugurating a great national institution, the Secretary of State will grant similar facilities for the representation of all Welsh Territorial units on that occasion to those given on the occasion of His Majesty's visit to Carnarvon last year?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Mr. Tennant)The local committee at Cardiff approved of the military proposals as set forth by the General Officer Commanding in Chief and these were subsequently approved by the Army Council. In view of the fact that last year a large assembly of Welsh Territorial troops had been brought together at Carnarvon on the occasion of the Investiture of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, it is not considered expedient to assemble troops on the present occasion outside the county of Glamorgan. No applications have been received from other associations to send detachments.
§ Sir IVOR HERBERTMay I ask the hon. Gentleman if he is aware that I was present at the meeting of the. committee referred to, and that at the committee it was stated by the representative of the General Officer Commanding that what they required was a general representation—not necessarily the presence of the whole units—of all the units in the Principality; and that the committee was under the 1316 impression that that was the recommendation made to the War Office and approved by them?
§ Mr. TENNANTNo, Sir, I was not aware of that; nor was I aware that that was the nature of the communication received by the War Office, but if my hon. Friend will send me a communication of that character, of course I will see that it receives consideration.
§ Sir IVOR HERBERTDoes the hon. Gentleman accept my statement as one who was present that that was the state of affairs, and in view of the very short time at our disposal will he communicate at once with the local military authorities?
§ Mr. TENNANTI do not think I said anything to show that I did not accept the statement of the hon. and gallant Member. I am afraid I cannot give an undertaking to communicate with the local military authorities.