§ 55. Lord CHARLES BERESFORDasked the Prime Minister whether he can see his way to legalise vigilance committees in 774 towns and districts, composed of older men not likely to be carried away by panic or excitement, in order to allay public anxiety concerning the danger to the State from alien enemies in our midst?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe Prime Minister has asked me to reply to this question. Secrecy is the essence of the measures which are being taken by the military authorities and the police to deal with espionage, and I fear the existence of such committees as the Noble Lord suggests would tend to hamper rather than to assist their inquiries. Members of the public should communicate to the military or the police any definite grounds of suspicion that come to their knowledge, and they may rest assured that everything possible will be done to investigate them, and thus meet the danger.