§ 21. Mr. HOGGEasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the temporary postmen at Cambridge have been given to understand that unless they are medically unfit for the Army they will be no longer retained in the post office; whether he is aware that the postmaster at Cambridge has individually interviewed temporary postmen of that place, and that these men report that he has strongly urged them to join the Army, suggesting that, unless they did, their services would be dispensed with; and whether he proposes to take any action in the matter?
§ Mr. HOBHOUSEThe facts have not been correctly represented to the hon. Member. Now that the annual leave of the regular postmen at Cambridge is coming to an end, it has become necessary to dispense with the services of certain of the temporary postmen at present employed, and the postmaster selected for discharge, amongst others, the one unmarried man eligible for enlistment in the Army. The Post Office is not engaging for temporary employment single men eligible for enlistment if other candidates are available, and the postmaster's action appears to me to have been entirely justified.