HC Deb 15 March 1916 vol 80 cc2070-1
29. Mr. JOWETT

asked the Under-Secretary for War what action he proposes to take on the conduct of the Spur Doubling Company, of Reddish, near Stockport, who have dismissed an employé named Toft for refusing to attest; that the manager, in dismissing the workman, said that he was acting on the instructions given in a pamphlet issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee; and that if he continued to employ Toft he would be liable to a fine of £20; and will he say if any such instructions or statements have been made on the part of the War Office?

Mr. TENNANT

I have no information of the circumstances mentioned by my hon. Friend. If any statement was made that, in dismissing a workman for refusing to attest, a man was acting on instructions given in the pamphlet issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, there is no foundation for the statement. There is a penalty for knowingly employing a Reservist who, after being called up for service, absents himself, and reference to this penalty was made in a pamphlet entitled "An Outline of the Military Service Act," issued by the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee. This, of course, is entirely a different matter from a suggestion that a man should dismiss an employé for refusing to become a Reservist. I can show my hon. Friend the exact terms of the statement in the Parliamentary Recruiting Committee's pamphlet.