§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) for what reasons he is continuing222W to require police officers to wear visible unique identification numbers;
(2) what plans he has to discontinue the requirement for police officers to wear unique identification numbers visible on their uniforms.
§ Mr. MacleanIssues relating to police uniforms are primarily operational matters which are for decision by chief officers of police, but I continue to agree with the advice given by the then Home Secretary—now Lord Callaghan in Home Office circular 13/1968—that
it is in the interests both of the public, and of the police themselves, that the police should continue to wear numbers on their uniforms".