§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance has been issued to his Department's personnel at the nuclear submarine base on whether signing the petition organised by Dumbarton Conservative party to oppose planning permission for the Faslane peace camp would infringe the Queen's regulations.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonQueen's regulations forbid service personnel from taking an active part in the affairs of any political group. There is, however, no restriction on attendance at public meetings provided that service uniform is not worn, service duties are not impeded and no action is taken which would bring the service into disrepute.
The signing of local petitions by service personnel as private citizens is not seen as an infringement of Queen's regulations. Advice to this effect was issued to all personnel at the Clyde submarine base by the Commodore Clyde in a memorandum dated 9 March 1990.