HC Deb 07 May 1918 vol 105 cc1966-7
8. Mr. SNOWDEN

asked the Undersecretary of State for War if the Army Council has further considered the right of all soldiers to be allowed to take an interest in political and trade union matters; whether it is intended to continue the Army Council Instruction debarring soldiers from attending political meetings, in view of the fact that all soldiers over nineteen years of age have now the vote; and whether the Army Council have considered that it is essential for the proper exercise of that franchise that the men should be given an opportunity of attending political meetings if they so desire.

Mr. MACPHERSON

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answers which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for the Attercliffe Division of Sheffield on the 22nd January last, and to my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby on the 11th March last, to which I have nothing to add.