§ 29. Mr. Gallacherasked the Secretary of State for War if he has now received a report regarding the speech made by Major-General Burrows in Cairo, on 7th September, at an obligatory parade of G.H.Q. officers and N.C.Os.; and what action he proposes to take on this matter.
§ Sir J. GriggI sent a copy of the enclosure to the hon. Member's letter of 10th October to General Paget, and I also showed it to General Burrows on his arrival in this country. Quite independently they have assured me that this account is a gross distortion of the lecture. Incidentally, I myself have heard, and heard at considerable length, General Burrows' views on Russia and the Russian Army, some time before the lecture in Cairo, and what I heard then is completely irreconcilable with the account of the lecture sent to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. GallacherIn view of the fact that this was a compulsory parade, was an officer entitled to make a political address directed against the Soviet Union, and were members of the Forces entitled, as several of them were anxious to do, to contradict the statements made by the General?
§ Sir J. GriggThat presumes that the lecture was a political lecture, which is denied by both the Generals concerned.
§ Mr. GallacherWould the rank and file, who were compelled to attend the lecture, be entitled to put questions or make a protest against anything they considered undesirable?
§ Sir J. GriggThey are not entitled to break the King's Regulations.