HC Deb 30 May 1945 vol 411 cc200-3
21. Mr. Ness Edwards

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that airmen over the age of 30 years are being transferred to the Army and, if in view of the cessation of the calling up of men over the age of 30 years, he will take steps to prevent this anomaly as between serving airmen and civilians.

25. Major Procter

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware of the resentment felt in the Forces and by the families of serving men because men who have put in long service in the R.A.F., in some cases up to five years, are still being transferred to the Army; and if he will stop long-service men from being so transferred.

28. Mr. Glenvil Hall

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will give the reasons why men are being transferred from the R.A.F. to the Army and the number proposed to be transferred; whether such transfers are limited to certain age groups and also trades and, if so, which; what difference such transfers will make to the dates of release and the rates of pay of those transferred; the estimated time it is expected their Army training will take; and the extent to which the loss of these men to the R.A.F. will postpone the group-release of R.A.F. personnel beyond that announced as probable for the Army.

Mr. H. Macmillan

With permission, I will answer these Questions together. Transfers from the Royal Air Force to the Army have been temporarily suspended.

Major Markham

Has that information been made known to the Air Force in Europe?

Mr. Macmillan

I have made it known to-day, and will take steps to make it further known.

Sir Irving Albery

Will the position of men recently transferred over the age of 30 be affected by what my right hon. Friend has announced?

Mr. Macmillan

No, Sir; the process has been suspended.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

Owing to the noise, I was not aware that my Question was being answered with No. 21. I would like to have it answered separately as it covers a good deal more ground.

Mr. Macmillan

The hon. Member's Question was answered with No. 21.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker, may I ask for your guidance? It is obvious that the answer given to Question No. 21 in no way answered my Question No. 28, and, that being so, would it be in Order for me to put this Question down again in exactly the same form?

Mr. Speaker

If the Question has not been fully answered it may be put down again. That is the rule.

Mr. Silverman

If Questions are answered together without the permission of hon. Members who asked them, is not the hon. Member who put the second Question entitled to have the answer repeated?

Mr. Macmillan

I am very sorry indeed. I did not intend any discourtesy to the hon. Gentleman, and if there are any points he would like answered I will try to deal with them.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

Will the right hon. Gentleman read the answer again?

Mr. Macmillan

The answer was—and it seemed to me to be a sufficient answer—that transfers from the Royal Air Force to the Army have been temporarily suspended, and therefore it does not seem to me necessary to answer all these questions which would have arisen had the transfers still been going on.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

Transfers have taken place, and I have asked a Question about that and whether the men continue to receive the same rates of pay, and various other points dealing with the past which are quite germane, and on which, in my judgment, an answer should be given to me.

Mr. Macmillan

The matters to which the hon. Gentleman has just referred are under review.

Sir Herbert Holdsworth

Could we have an answer to the latter part of the Question—that is the point—and will the right hon. Gentleman say what effect these transfers to the Army will have on the release of R.A.F. personnel? Could we have an answer to that question?

Mr. Macmillan

That is another question.

Mr. Ivor Thomas

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that airmen are being told that if they volunteer for six years' service with the Royal Air Force, after the war, they will not be transferred to the Army, and this is felt to be a form of blackmail?

Mr. Macmillan

After a cursory reading of the files I thought a lucid statement had already been made on this matter by my predecessor, but if I can add to his powerful and persuasive intelligence, and if my hon. Friend will put down his questions again, I will do my best to make the position clear.

Major Markham

Is it not a fact that the Minister said he was answering Questions 21 and 28 together? If that is so could we have an answer to the second, third, fourth and fifth parts of Question No. 28?

Mr. Glanville

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that hon. Members have been receiving letters from men over 30 years of age who have been in the Air Force since 1940, and who are now to be transferred to the Army?

Dr. Edith Summerskill

In view of the Minister's statement, will he undertake to review special cases of hardship which have been brought to the notice of his predecessor?

Mr. Macmillan

I have undertaken to review the whole question, and it is being reviewed. In order to alleviate any anxiety, I stated frankly that these transfers are not going on, and that the whole question was under review.

Mr. Muff

In the latter part of the Question the query is whether those men who have already been posted are going to be put at a disadvantage owing to this new state of affairs. That is the question to which we would like a clear answer.

Mr. Macmillan

That question will certainly be reviewed.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

On a point of Order, might I ask your guidance, Mr. Speaker? This is a matter of supreme importance to many thousands in the Royal Air Force, and it seems to me we are entitled to a straight answer. If I may say so without disrespect, I know the Minister is new, but he has not answered three parts of the Question I put on the Order Paper.

Mr. Speaker

I suggest to the hon. Member that he puts down this Question again.