HC Deb 04 July 1968 vol 767 c1678
24. Mr. Whitaker

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will now, as an experiment, provide name badges for police officers in place of numbers on their uniforms.

Mr. Callaghan

No, Sir. The Police Advisory Board recently considered this proposal but did not recommend it.

Mr. Whitaker

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that while the Police Federation understandably objects to its members being labelled with numbers, it would benefit both the public and the police if the former could be encouraged to regard the latter as individual human beings and not as symbols in uniform?

Mr. Callaghan

I think that that is the position now.

Sir Harmar Nicholls

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, whether they have names or numbers, we have a police problem under our noses in the Palace of Westminister, in that the police, having been on duty because of our erratic hours, are now being called on to do duty next Sunday—

Mr. Speaker

Order. That has nothing to do with the original Question.

Sir Harmar Nicholls

On a point of order. Mr. Speaker. Is it not in order to say that the Home Secretary should give attention to that rather than to numbers?

Mr. Speaker

The Question is about name badges.