HC Deb 14 December 1960 vol 632 cc385-6
8. Mr. Kershaw

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will specify all his reasons for not forming a British Foreign Legion.

Mr. Profumo

The need is not for more units, but for more men to fill those we already have; hence, a foreign legion, unless it were substituted for another unit, would be an additional burden on the Army Vote and a drain on experienced officers and N.C.O.s.

Mr. Kershaw

Is this not a rather strange doctrine that the more soldiers there are in the Army, the more they cost and the less we can afford them? Is my right hon. Friend sure that he has gone into the matter? He should not be browbeaten by the generals.

Mr. Profumo

I know that my hon. Friend is not trying to browbeat me. I did not say that the more soldiers we had, the greater the cost. I said that we are trying to get more soldiers, not just more units. I am anxious that with the ending of National Service, which will free a large number of soldiers from training in which they are now engaged, they should become active soldiers and not have to train a foreign legion.

Mr. Kershaw

In view of the nature of the reply, I shall seek to raise the matter again.