§ 2. Mr. Merlyn Reesasked the Minister of State for Defence whether he will institute an inquiry into the use of manpower and paper at Army headquarters, in the light of the evidence supplied to him by the hon. Member for Leeds, South.
§ Mr. Ian GilmourThe hon. Gentleman has not, in fact, supplied me with any evidence, but the matters he has in mind are kept constantly under review. Wide-ranging studies are already in progress and I see no need for a further inquiry at present.
§ Mr. ReesDoes the hon. Gentleman recall that in my letter I referred to two letters, one to The Times and one to the Sunday Telegraph, the first by a battalion colonel of the Scots Guards and the other by an administrative corporal at headquarters, referring to a wastage of manpower and to too much paper at Army headquarters? What steps should such people take to get this matter dealt with, other than by jeopardising their careers by writing to the Press? Surely there should be an investigation?
§ Mr. GilmourI do not regard letters that I have read in the Press three months ago as evidence supplied to me by the 389 hon. Gentleman. In fact, there have been studies in progress for some time in the Ministry under the previous Government. If the allegations that the hon. Gentleman talks about were in fact true, this would be a serious criticism of the previous Administration.