§ 66. Mr. RAMSBOTHAMasked the Minister of Health whether he has given full consideration to the request from the Lancashire Public Assistance Committee to be advised whether persons in the Lancashire county area who were locked out during the recent dispute in the cotton industry should be regarded as involved in a trade dispute and ineligible for Poor Law relief; and what advice, if any, was given?
§ Mr. GREENWOODThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the correspondence with the county council.
§ Mr. RAMSBOTHAMIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that local authorities feel considerable difficulty as regards the advice which he is reported to have given, because it appears to conflict with the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of the Attorney-General versus the Merthyr Tydvil Guardians?
§ Mr. GREENWOODI am not aware of that difficulty. This is, under legal advice, an interpretation of the decision in the Merthyr Tydvil case, applied to the circumstances of the Lancashire dispute.