HC Deb 29 April 1941 vol 371 cc329-31
9. Sir H. Williams

asked the Secretary of State for War when the letter addressed to the hon. Member for South Croydon, which was intercepted by the censorship at Inverness, will be delivered to the hon. Member?

Mr. Law

The letter to which my hon. Friend refers was returned by the base censor at Inverness to the soldier's unit in view of the fact that its enclosure in a "green envelope" involved a twofold breach of the censorship regulations. In the first place, the soldier had falsely signed a certificate to the effect that the envelope contained nothing but private and family matters; in the second place, the letter was enclosed with another letter addressed to a third person, to whom the envelope was addressed. In addition, the letter to the third person mentioned matters of military importance, such as the locality of certain defences. The soldier was accordingly confined to barracks for 10 days for a breach of the censorship regulations. It was made clear to him that his offence lay in a misuse of the "green envelope" and that there was no objection to his writing to a Member of Parliament through the ordinary channels. The commanding officer took the opportunity at the same time to discuss the soldier's grievances with him. As a result of this conversation the soldier expressed himself as satisfied that his complaints were without foundation and stated that he did not want the letters back. They were accordingly destroyed in his presence.

Sir H. Williams

As a letter, having been entrusted to His Majesty's Post master-General belongs to His Majesty's Postmaster-General until it is delivered to the person to whom it is addressed, can I have an explanation why a letter addressed to me was destroyed without the sanction of the Postmaster-General?

Mr. Law

I take it that the purpose of the letter to my hon. Friend was to see that certain grievances and complaints were examined. The complaints were, in fact, examined on the spot, which seemed to be the most sensible way of dealing with them, and as the soldier did not want the letter to go forward, and said that he did not, there seemed to be no object in sending it.

Sir H. Williams

At the moment when the letter was destroyed, it was the property of His Majesty's Postmaster-General and should remain his property until delivered to the addressee, and in these circumstances can my hon. Friend say by whose authority this letter was destroyed and is he aware that the letter was written to me in consequence of a letter from Lord Croft which I had sent to the soldier, who was answering Lord Croft's request?

Mr. Law

Yes, Sir, I am perfectly aware that the letter was in a sense sent at the request of Lord Croft, and, as I have tried to explain to my hon. Friend, if it had not been enclosed illegally in a green envelope, the letter would have been forwarded in the usual way.

Sir H. Williams

But I want to know why it was destroyed.