HL Deb 01 April 1914 vol 15 cc874-7
VISCOUNT MIDLETON

My Lords, I should like to ask the Lord Chancellor a question of which I have given him private notice with regard to the report which appears in Hansard of remarks which he made to your Lordships on Monday week, March 23. Much importance and interest attaches to certain words which fell from the noble and learned Viscount as regards the intentions of the Government with respect to Ulster. The words used by the Lord Chancellor, as reported in The Times, are as follows— No orders were issued, no orders are likely to be issued, and no orders will be issued for the coercion of Ulster. The words as now officially published in Hansard run— No orders were issued, no orders are likely to be issued, and no orders will be issued for the immediate coercion of Ulster. The Hansard report is "starred," which I believe is the proper method of showing that the speaker has himself revised the words which are there inserted. But this seems to me so extraordinary and exceptional a change of the whole meaning of the phrase, which attracted great attention at the time, and which, so far as all those members of the House whom I have been able to consult remember, was delivered precisely as The Times reports it, that I venture to ask the noble and learned Viscount whether the words were not uttered as reported in The Times, and whether the change in Hansard was made by his authority.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT HALDANE)

Yes, my Lords. The speech was revised by me and corrected by the insertion of the word "immediate." The reason for that was that it was necessary to insert the word so that the sentence should read with the context. If the noble Viscount had quoted the context in which the sentence occurs as well as the words themselves, it would have been perfectly plain that it referred to immediate coercion of Ulster. What has happened, as happens sometimes in the newspapers and elsewhere, is that a sentence has been taken and wrenched from its context, which in this case would have made it abundantly plain that it was in reference to the immediate situation I was speaking; and the sentence has been given a wholly different meaning. I deliberately inserted the word "immediate," not for the purpose of giving a different sense, but for giving the sense in which I had used the sentence. I will read to the House the context, but I will first of all read the words as I spoke them— No orders were issued, no orders are likely to be issued, and no orders will be issued for the coercion of Ulster. But I also said— There is not a word of truth in the suggestion that last week or at any time the Government issued orders for the coercion of Ulster. What has happened is pretty plain. There have been going on in Ulster things—I do not wish to allude further to them—which in themselves constitute a menace to law and order. If the business of government cannot be carried on in Ulster, then it becomes the duty of those who are responsible for law and order to see that it can be carried on, and for that purpose they are not only at liberty, but they are bound, to take such precautions as are proper…. So far as public opinion is concerned, it will be left there to make itself manifest; but if there is anything which amounts to a menace against the cause of law and order, that must be dealt with…. No steps have been taken for an active campaign in Ulster against anybody. Everything that has been done has been in the nature of preventive measures. I think it is clear from the context that the sentence which I used was with reference to the immediate situation, and I inserted the word "immediate" on purpose to prevent the sentence being used, as it has been used mercilessly in the last few days, wrenched from its context and given quite a different sense, which cannot now be given as the word "immediate" is in.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, I venture to suggest to the noble and learned Viscount that the fact of this passage in his speech having been, as he said a moment ago, constantly quoted during the course of this debate might have led him to the conclusion that if it required correction or qualification it should be qualified or corrected by a statement made by himself in his place in this House. It is by a mere accident that we became aware that this very important change in the text had been made in the corrected version which appears in Hansard. As to the explanation which the noble and learned Viscount has offered—namely, that the addition of the word "immediate" was necessary in order to make this particular passage agree with the context of his speech—I am not quite sure that that is how an ordinary reader would regard the matter. It is no doubt the case that in the earlier portion of his statement the noble and learned Viscount said emphatically that there was not a word of truth in the suggestion that last week or at any time the Government had issued orders for the coercion of Ulster, and that he then went on to say that it might become the duty of the Government to take precautions in the event of its becoming impossible to carry on the business of government in that province. But so far as the coercion of Ulster is concerned, we certainly took the noble and learned Viscount's meaning to be that as a matter of fact no such orders had been issued in the past, that no such orders were being issued at the moment, and most important of all—that no such orders, that is, orders for the coercion of Ulster for political purposes, were in contemplation for the future. We took that as being an unqualified and unreserved declaration made by the noble and learned Viscount on behalf of himself and his colleagues, and I must say it comes to us as rather a rude shock to find that the whole gist of his meaning should have been altered by the amendment which he has inserted in the authorised version.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

Will the noble Marquess permit me to repeat the sentence immediately before the words that have been quoted. I said— There is not a word of truth in the suggestion that last week or at any time the Government issued orders for the coercion of Ulster. What has happened is pretty plain. There have been going on in Ulster things—I do not wish to allude further to them—which in themselves constitute a menace to law and order. If the business of government cannot be carried on in Ulster, then it becomes the duty of those who are responsible for law and order to see that it can be carried on, and for that purpose they are not only at liberty, but they are bound, to take such precautions as are proper. If that had been quoted with the sentence as it stood originally there would have been no ambiguity about its meaning. It is because the sentence has been ruthlessly taken from that context that I put in the word as necessary to show what the meaning is.

VISCOUNT MIDLETON

My Lords, I am very glad to have elicited the admission from the Lord Chancellor that the wording has been altered. I am afraid that the public will not hold, as the noble and learned Viscount does, that the word was necessary to make good the sense of the rest of the phrase. I must say it is really unfortunate, and this incident would seem to show that in speech, as it has also been in writing, His Majesty's Government seem neither individually nor collectively able to express exactly what they mean with regard to this matter.