§ Q5. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he will re-define the duties of the Paymaster-General.
§ The Prime MinisterI have nothing to add to previous Answers on this Question.
§ Mr. MartenAs the implications of the previous Answers were that the Prime Minister should be kept well informed about security matters, can he tell us whether the temporary secretary, Miss Wells, employed at No. 10 Downing Street, was positively vetted beforehand? If so——
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. Security Questions are not allowed on the Order Paper, and I do not think that they should be allowed in supplementary questions.
§ The Prime MinisterOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the slur made by the hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten), may I be allowed to reply?
§ Mr. SpeakerSince the question has been asked, yes.
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Member for Banbury (Mr. Marten), who spends most of his time snooping on this kind of question, gave a statement to the Press. I wish now to give the facts. This lady was sent for a few days as a replacement for a sick secretary and acted part-time as secretary to my wife. She was employed on exactly the same terms as have always been the case at Downing Street, although we have in fact greatly tightened up the security provisions in the recruitment even of temporary staff as compared with the position under our predecessors.
It was when she was asked to type a stock letter on Vietnam and began to query the text that one of my secretaries threw doubt on her position when she was replaced and returned to the place from which she had come. There has been the fullest vetting of anyone who has anything to do with security work. This lady had no access to any security work, and I repeat that the rules are tighter than in the time of the Government of which the hon. Member was a member.
§ Sir D. RentonDoes that mean that there is or is not positive security vetting of all those employed at No. 10 Downing Street If not, why not?
§ The Prime MinisterIt is not usual to give details of the methods of vetting, but I can say that everything done before in respect of every member of the Downing Street staff is still done. [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer."] Everything done 1881 under my predecessor is still done. In his time, the rule was that temporaries engaged on official work were brought in without vetting at all. We stopped that and have been vetting all people who come to work at Downing Street, even those who come to deal with purely political or constituency work. I can certainly tell the right hon. and learned Member for Huntingdonshire (Sir D. Renton) that the conditions are much tighter.
§ Mr. MartenOn a point of order, Mr. Speaker. With respect, does not the Prime Minister's reply entitle me to raise this question?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman should not question my ruling.