§ 18. Mr. W. Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for War where the eleven soldiers employed at Royal Palaces are currently serving; and what weapon or other training they receive.
§ Mr. ProfumoThe eleven soldiers are serving in London; five are employed in Buckingham Palace, three in Clarence House and three in York House. They carry out military training appropriate to their rank and service.
§ Mr. HamiltonWhat exactly does that mean? We continually get these vague answers when I ask these questions. We want something more specific. The impression is that these men are not soldiers in the real meaning of the term but a form of cheap labour.
§ Mr. ProfumoThis is not a form of cheap labour. These men are soldiers. The annual individual training which they do includes battle efficiency tests, involving marching, educational qualification tests, annual classification, and rifle and light machine gun drill.
§ Mr. M. FootFollowing some of the right hon. Gentleman's previous replies, would it be correct to say that these are the only exclusively conventional forces now at his disposal?
§ Mr. ProfumoSo long as they are serving the Queen they are not entirely at my disposal.