§ 43. Mr. CLOUGHasked the Prime Minister whether every Petition to His Majesty ought to be presented through the medium of the Secretary of State for the Home Department; whether, since the prorogation of the 15th August, 1913, a Petition, signed by 188 Members of the House of Lords, praying His Majesty forthwith to dissolve this Parliament, has been presented through some other 1398 medium; and, if so, whether he will state when and by whom such Petition was presented; and will he give the full text of that Petition along with a complete list of the names inscribed thereon?
§ The PRIME MINISTERAll Petitions to the King must, by constitutional usage, be presented through a Secretary of State; and, if they relate to the affairs of the United Kingdom through the Secretary of State for the Home Department. I have no knowledge of the existence of any such Petition as is described in the question.