§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peake)May I ask your indulgence and that of the House to make a short personal statement arising out of an answer which I gave in the House yesterday in reply to a private notice question put to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary by my hon. Friend the Member for East Fife (Mr. Henderson Stewart)? My hon. Friend's question related to the recent fires which have occurred in the City of London, and, as is inevitable in the case of private notice questions, I only received the information on which my answers were based shortly before the meeting of the House. Whilst the substance of my original answer was in every respect accurate, I indicated in reply to supplementary questions by my hon. Friend that Scotland Yard officers were making the police investigations. The fact is that the investigations proceeding are being conducted by the City of London Police. The mistake arose through a misinterpretation on my part of a reference to the "Commissioner of Police" as referring to the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, whereas in fact the reference was to the Commissioner of Police for the City of London. I do not think the matter is one of great substance, since the City of London Police are in every respect qualified and equipped for conducting such an investigation, and of course all information in the possession of Scotland Yard is readily available to them. I thought it best, however, to take the earliest opportunity of acquainting the House with the true position, and can only assure you, Sir, that my mistake arose from a desire to impart information rather than to withhold it.