§ 21. Mr. F. WHYTEasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that the Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms, signed by the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India, calls attention to the present character of Indian Debates in the House of Commons as being unsatisfactory owing to lack of knowledge of, and sustained interest in, the affairs of India; whether he is further aware that they recommend that a Standing Committee on Indian Affairs be set up at the opening of each Session; and whether, seeing that Parliamentary Debates on foreign affairs suffer from the same defects as those devoted to Indian affairs, he will adopt the proposal of his colleague and set up a Standing Committee of Parliament on Foreign Affairs?
Mr. BALFOURThe debating points, which my hon. Friend has ingeniously embodied in question form, are plausible, but they leave me unconvinced.