§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider the cleaning of Nelson's Column and Statue, prior to the Coronation, in view of its worldwide importance as a monument and its present very dirty state.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (THE EARL OF MUNSTER)My Lords, the statue and the bronze capital of the column, and the bronze panels at its base, will be cleaned before the Coronation. It would not be possible to remove the dirt from the column itself without risk of damage to the stone.
LORD GIFFORDMay I thank the noble Earl for his answer, which I think is a very appropriate one to receive on October 21? Perhaps I might take it as a modest second victory of Trafalgar.