Mr. F. HALL (Dulwich)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, as the result of inquiries which have been made, it appears that the resignation by Brigadier-General Gough and other officers in the Irish Command of their commissions was due to their apprehension that the troops in Ireland were to be used for the purpose of enforcing the Government of Ireland Bill on Ulster, and not only for preserving order; if the recent Army Order is intended to lay down the principles that officers and men are not called upon to obey orders issued in furtherance of political objects except so far as such orders are necessary for the maintenance of order; and if any grounds exist for assuming that the action of the officers in this matter was dictated by anything else than regard for the principle which has now been formally set forth in this Order?
§ Mr. McKENNAAs to the first and last parts of the question I have nothing to add to the reply which I gave to the Noble Lord the Member for Hitchin last Wednesday. The reply to the second part is that the Prime Minister fully explained what was intended by the Army Order.