§ 28. Mr. Cocksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that the police have been instructed, on being notified that a Serviceman has been killed in action, to inform the next-of-kin immediately, even in the middle of the night; and whether he will give instructions that they should wait until sunrise or later before breaking the news.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonIt is not the function of the police to notify the next-of-kin of Service casualties, and no instructions of the kind to which my hon. Friend refers have been issued. If, however, he will be good enough to let me have particulars of the case which he has in mind, I shall be glad to make further inquiries.
§ Mr. CocksIn view of the fact that, in some districts, the police are under the impression that it is their duty to act in this way—so I have been informed by the British Legion—will my right hon. Friend take steps to inform them of the nature of his answer to-day?
§ Mr. MorrisonThey will, no doubt, see it. My information is that there are no instructions to the police. I believe that, in a limited number of cases, the police have conveyed the information, at the request of the military. It is because of the exceptional character of those cases that I have asked my hon. Friend for particulars, so that I may look into them.
§ Mr. CocksMy point is that two o'clock in the morning is not a good time to awaken a woman to tell her that her husband has been killed.
§ Mr. MorrisonI quite agree that it is a good case for consideration.