HC Deb 22 April 1941 vol 371 cc12-5
24. Sir H. Williams

asked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the case of a soldier whose reply to a letter addressed to him by the hon. Member for South Croydon was stopped by the censorship at Inverness, and who, for writing to his Member of Parliament, was confined to barracks for 10 days; and whether he has any statement to make?

Captain Margesson

The letter to which my hon. Friend refers was enclosed with another letter in the Army Form known as the "green envelope" These envelopes are issued to the troops for the transmission of letters relating to private and family matters only, and their contents, although censored at the base, are not examined by the unit censor. Neither of the two letters in question was of such a nature as to justify the use of the "green envelope," and the soldier was confined to barracks for 10 days for a breach of the censorship regulations. There was no question of punishing the man for writing to his Member of Parliament.

Sir H. Williams

May I ask how it is that I have not received the letter, by whose authority a Member of Parliament was deprived of the right to receive a letter and, furthermore, is my right hon. and gallant Friend aware of the fact that the soldier was writing to me at my request; and that my letter to him contained a letter addressed to me by one of the officials of the War Office, who wanted to ascertain from the soldier more particular details about the matters of which he complained?

Captain Margesson

Yes, I am aware of the facts contained in the statement that the hon. Gentleman has just made. I have not seen these letters, and I am unable to say how it is that my hon. Friend has not received them. The point I wanted to make perfectly clear is that there was no question of punishing the man for writing to his Member of Parliament; the punishment was for breaking the censorship regulations.

Sir H. Williams

Surely there must be some explanation as to why a letter addressed to me three weeks ago, and of which the War Office had information over a fortnight ago, has not yet been delivered?

Captain Margesson

I presume the letter was stopped by the base censor and has not been forwarded because the green envelopes were being used for a purpose for which they were not designed.

Sir H. Williams

On a matter of Privilege, Mr. Speaker, do I understand that the censor is entitled to deprive a Member of Parliament of his correspondence?

Mr. Speaker

That is not a question for me to answer off-hand.

Mr. Bellenger

May I ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman, as there is some considerable doubt in the minds of soldiers, and of their wives and others on this subject, whether any let or hindrance is placed in the way of any soldier writing to his Member of Parliament if he so desires?

Captain Margesson

That point was covered very carefully in a statement made by the late Secretary of State for War. The position was very fully set out on Tuesday, 10th December, 1940, and I do not think that I would wish to-day, in reply to the Question which has just been raised, to go any further than the statement made by my predecessor.

Mr. A. Bevan

The reply to which the right hon. and gallant Gentleman refers was given in answer to a Supplementary Question which I put to the Secretary of State for War at that time, and he gave a promise to the House that he would make this information available to all the officers of the Army, but in the meantime, is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that soldiers have written to me saying that letters addressed to them and bearing the House of Commons stamp are normally opened before the soldier receives them?

Captain Margesson

If my hon. Friend has any specific occasion in mind, I should be glad if he would give me particulars, for I was not aware of that.

Mr. Bevan

Has the right hon. and gallant Gentleman satisfied himself that commanding officers everywhere have been informed, and that there has been no let or hindrance in the way of correspondence between Members of the House and soldiers in the Army?

Captain Margesson

This Reply was made public, so the commanding officers ought to know.

Mr. Bevan

On a point of Order. May I suggest that the right hon. and gallant Gentleman is not in fact replying to the Question to which the House wants an answer? Has he satisfied himself that the Reply given by the late Secretary of State for War has, in accordance with his promise, been made known to all commanding officers in the Army?

Captain Margesson

As far as I know, that is the case, but I do not want to be tied down on a point which I have not looked into specifically. But I will certainly look into it.

Sir Percy Harris

Will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman give his personal attention to the matter, see the correspondence, and tell us himself that soldiers are still free to communicate without interference with their Members of Parliament?