§ 52. Mr. Leachasked the Postmaster-General how many employés are undergoing the inoculation tests sanctioned by him; where the tests take place; how many hours off work have been involved to those undergoing the test; and why the results are not to be communicated to his Department?
§ Major Tryon307 members of the staff have undergone the tests. The tests have taken place in a room on official premises, and have involved less than an hour's absence in each case from official work. At the request of the Staff Associations the results are not communicated to the Department, and this request is, in my opinion, a reasonable one.
§ Mr. LeachDoes the Minister realise that his Department is incurring considerable discredit by the dangerous experiments which he is permitting upon his staff?
§ Major TryonNo, Sir. As I have already informed the hon. Member, these experiments are not dangerous.
§ 54. Mr. Leachasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that there is eminent medical testimony supporting the view that the employment of the Mantoux reaction test is not devoid of danger to those who undergo it; and will he, therefore, take further steps to assure himself that the experiments to which he has-consented are justified?
§ Major TryonI am not aware of any such medical testimony. On the contrary I am advised on the highest authority that it is impossible for anyone to he injured by any of the investigations done as the Prophit Survey is doing them.
§ Mr. LeachIf I offer to obtain support for my statements, will the Minister be prepared to go into the matter further, and can he really persuade himself that to innoculate into the veins of—
§ Mr. SpeakerI do not know why the Minister should be asked to persuade himself.
§ Mr. LeachHe has already persuaded himself, and I want to know how he has done it. May I ask my question? How can it possibly be free from danger to innoculate into the veins of a healthy person this poisonous decoction?
§ Major TryonI, as Minister, have to decide between the hon. Member's unsupported assertion, which is in-accurate—
§ Major Tryon—and statements from the Royal College of Physicians that this injection can have no ill effects, and Lord 1690 Dawson of Penn that it is impossible for anyone to be injured by it.