§ Mr. FranksTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the criterion in the past when independent judicial inquiries have been instituted to inquire into matters of national importance and interest; and whether these criteria are applicable in the matters appertaining to Mr. John Stalker.
§ Mr. WaddingtonSuccessive Home Secretaries have reserved such inquiries for circumstances where the whole efficiency of a force is called into question, or where there has been serious public disorder, or some similar circumstance where wide-ranging and serious disquiet is felt about a matter affecting a large proportion of a force.
I do not consider that these criteria apply to the events surrounding Mr. John Stalker's suspension from the Greater Manchester police force and his subsequent reinstatement therein.