HC Deb 08 March 1917 vol 91 cc551-2
49. Mr. GINNELL

asked the Prime Minister if he will state the scope of the Cabinet's decision, and whether it was unanimous, refusing the promised Reports of the courts-martial held in Ireland last May; whether it was with the sanction of the Cabinet that the Under-Secretary of State for War refused to specify even the charges upon which Mr. John MacNeill was arrested, accused, and convicted respectively; whether there is any precedent for refusing to state the charges; and, seeing that the information is already in other hands than those of the Government, what means are being taken to prevent its disclosure to the public?

Mr. BONAR LAW

I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for East Mayo on 5th March.

Mr. GINNELL

That reply dealt only with the Reports. This question raises the matter of the charges. Are the charges withheld, and, if so, is there any precedent for doing that?

Mr. BONAR LAW

In a case of this kind the greater includes the less.

Mr. T. M. HEALY

Has the right hon. Gentleman really considered the question that, after all, the prisoner is entitled to know the charge upon which he is convicted, and that the public are interested to know what the charge is? I understand that the question of my hon. Friend (Mr. Ginnell) is, should not the House and the country be informed of the particular charge brought against a prisoner and dealt with in the Report?

Mr. BONAR LAW

As my hon. and learned Friend knows, the case was heard in camera, and the decision of the Government was that these Reports should not be published. Of course the prisoner himself was well aware of the charge made against him.

Mr. GINNELL

Has the right hon. Gentleman considered the fact stated, or at least indicated in the question, that the charge upon which he was arrested was not that upon which he was accused in Court, and that the charge upon which he was accused in Court was not that upon which he was convicted, and, in these circumstances, does he still persist in refusing to inform the House and the public what the charges were?