Mr. KINGasked the President of the Board of Education whether he has taken into consideration the published admission of the Permanent Secretary of the Board that he has been guilty of lack of judgment, and the importance of the issue about which he has admitted his error; and whether he intends to ask the Permanent Secretary to resign?
419W
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThe Permanent Secretary's error of judgment consisted in authorising the printing of Mr. Holmes' Confidential Memorandum and its distribution to the Board's Inspectors. No one is absolutely incapable of an error of judgment. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative. In consequence of statements made in the Press and elsewhere, by persons who have not now and may never have had experience of the inside of the Education Office, to the effect that some members of the Board's staff are disloyal to the Government, I feel that I must give the House the result of my own knowledge based on personal experience. I therefore think it necessary to say that, like my two right hon. Friends who preceded me as President, I have had most loyal assistance from the Permanent Secretary, the Inspectors, and the other officers of the Board. There has also been no trace of either direct or indirect insubordination and not the least failure to abide by directions given by me on any subject. Statements to the contrary are entirely unsupported by fact. As the result of three years' personal experience I am able to say that no Civil Servants could have devoted their intellect and energy more fully to the furthering of the policy for which I have been responsible, or more actively devised means for carrying out my wishes and instructions in the spirit as well as in the letter.