§ 3. Mr. ANDERSONasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his Attention has been called to the protest made by the Runcorn Tribunal against the calling up by the military authorities of men granted conditional exemption; whether he has read the statement of the chairman that the certificates of tribunals were of no account, and that the military authorities simply used the tribunals as a fog to obscure the issue; and what steps it is proposed to take to prevent the military authorities overriding the decisions of the tribunals?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONInquiry has been made into this matter. It appears that there was some misundersanding as to certificates of exemption held by men whose employment ceased to be certified in consequence of alteration in the Certified Occupation List, but that the question 1824 has now been satisfactorily settled. It is not always understood that an exemption granted solely on the ground of certified occupation is automatically cancelled when the occupation is removed from the list. Recruiting officers are fully aware that a valid certificate or exemption issued by a tribunal precludes the calling up of the holder for military service. No instances of wilful ignoring of tribunal certificates have been reported.