60. Sir H. DALZIELasked the Prime Minister whether the Army Council and the Board of Admiralty were consulted before the pledge was given on behalf of 1184 the Government that the Dardanelles Papers would be laid upon the Table of the House?
§ The PRIME MINISTERNo, Sir; neither of these bodies were formally consulted.
§ 61 and 62. Mr. SWIFT MacNEILLasked the Prime Minister (1) on what grounds, in reference to the Dardanelles and the Mesopotamia Expeditions, information, however confidential, not useful to the enemy, has been withheld from the House of Commons though admittedly in the possession or procurement of the Government; and (2) whether he is aware that the withholding by the Cabinet of information relating to the Dardanelles and Mesopotamia Expeditions on the ground not that it might be useful to the enemy but that it is confidential has produced grave discontent among the relatives and friends of the men who have perished in these expeditions, in the belief that such information though in the power and procurement of the Cabinet is withheld to shield the incompetence of individuals; and whether a full disclosure of the circumstances, except so far as they are calculated to give useful information to the enemy, will forthwith be made to Parliament as the grand inquest of the nation?
§ The PRIME MINISTERWith regard to these questions, I think the matters they raise are controversial, and can best be dealt with in debate.
§ Mr. MacNEILLIs there not a distinction, which he has drawn himself, between confidential information and the secrecy of the Cabinet? Is not confidential information withheld for the first time from the House of Commons by the Government? Why are we treated like children in this matter?
§ The PRIME MINISTERBecause it is confidential.