§ MR. ELLIS GRIFFITH (Anglesey)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the fact that all the officers and men on board the Guardship at Holyhead have received orders that they must procure all their provisions from the canteen and not from any of the local tradesmen; whether he is aware that the canteen on board H.M.Ss. "Resolution" and "Edgar" was carried on by Messrs. Lipton and Company, Limited, and managed by one of their employees, and 54 that the canteen on board H.M.S. "Spartan" is carried on by the Army and Navy Stores under similar conditions; whether the commander is acting in accordance with the regulations in forbidding the men from dealing with the local tradesmen, and thus entailing loss on the town; and whether the Admiralty will take steps to ensure liberty of action in this matter to the officers and men in the service.
(Answered by Mr. Arnold-Forster.) The hon. Member's Question seems to be based on erroneous information. No orders have been issued in the vessels referred to prohibiting private dealings with tradesmen on shore, and such a prohibition would not be in accordance with the regulations. The only restriction is with regard to trading actually on board the vessels, a restriction which exists very generally, and which in practice is not found to inflict any hardship on the officers or men.