§ 2.38 p.m.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the fact that 97 officers and 551 soldiers now in the South Wales Borderers and the Welch Regiment are surplus to the establishment of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Wales, they will on June 11, 1969, form a Second Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Wales.]
THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE, R.A.F. (LORD WINTER BOTTOM)No, my Lords. Most of the 297 officers and soldiers surplus to the establishment of the Royal Regiment of Wales will serve in other regiments within the Prince of Wales's Division or be transferred into other Divisions or Corps.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether he is aware that the officers and men mentioned in my Question joined one of the Welsh regiments on the understanding that they would always serve in the Welsh regiments; and is this not a disgraceful breach of faith?
§ LORD WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, circumstances impose unpopular decisions upon us, and to what extent a firm commitment was entered into that a Welshman should always serve in a Welsh regiment. I cannot say.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, may I ask the Minister how he thinks he is going to sustain, or even retain, recruiting in Wales if the Government play these shabby tricks on Welsh officers and soldiers?
LORD WINTER BOTTOMMy Lords, I deny that this is a shabby trick. It is something forced upon us by necessity.
LORD MOLSCNMy Lords, do not the Government think that they ought to make quite certain what undertakings were given? And is it not rather unsatisfactory that the Minister replies that he does not know whether any undertakings were given?
§ LORD WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I will make such an inquiry, but I should imagine that officers and men recruited into Welsh regiments were recruited under exactly the same terms as those recruited into any other regiment in the British Army.
§ LORD OGMOREMy Lords, may I ask the Minister whether he is aware that that statement is not correct? All officers and soldiers recruited into a Welsh regiment were so recruited on the assumption that they would remain in a Welsh regiment in the Welsh Brigade. But may I ask him, further, whether his attention has been drawn to the Statement on the Defence Estimates, 1959, and the Statement on Recruiting issued by the Minister 298 of Defence on March 26, 1969? If his attention has been drawn to these documents, would he not agree that they show a serious falling off in recruiting for the Army?
§ LORD WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I have undertaken to see whether an undertaking was given. There is a great difference between an assumption and an undertaking; but I will look into the matter and let the two noble Lords who have spoken know what the position is.