§ 82. Sir C. KINLOCH-COOKEasked the First Lord whether he can explain the arrangements under which local police authorities at the Home ports have been instructed to hand over to naval custody men belonging to His Majesty's ships who may be arrested for minor offences; can he give any precedent for such an order; and will he state the Act of Parliament giving the Lords of the Admiralty powers to assume jurisdiction over the police?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe object of the arrangements in question was to prevent a certain inequality of treatment which was involved in the previous somewhat haphazard system under which seamen who were found drunk in the streets might be taken in custody by the police or handed over to a naval patrol, the result being that men might be punished by the civil or naval authority. Punishment by the former carries with it certain additional consequences to the men in regard to service privileges, honours, and marks of distinction, and it is with a view to the adoption of a more even and equitable treatment that the arrangements were proposed. The legal aspect of the matter is being dealt with by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in his reply to-day to a similar question.