HC Deb 02 June 1913 vol 53 c592
58. Mr. F. HALL

asked the Prime Minister if he will consider the advisability of providing that no person who is related, directly or indirectly, to a Member of either House of Parliament shall be eligible for appointment in the Civil Service except as the result of competitive examination?

The PRIME MINISTER

I am not prepared to make any such rule. In the case of all appointments the public interest is the governing consideration.

Mr. SWIFT MacNEILL

Could the right hon. Gentleman kindly say whether the test of a rigorous competitive examination was applied to the Prime Ministerial relatives who packed the late Cabinet?

The PRIME MINISTER

I do not wish to go into that; but to apply the test of a competitive examination rigorously and universally would be to exclude from the public service many of its most eminent members.

Mr. SWIFT MacNEILL

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the late Cabinet was as full of relatives as Noah's Ark itself?