§ 9. Mr. Dayasked the Minister of Labour the number of permits granted to foreign artists for each year during the last three years to appear in England; 557 will he give particulars of the number of cases where permission has been granted to those artists to appear simultaneously with their engagements at hotels and/or cabarets; and whether the Ministry of Labour have any regulations that require employers to engage a proportionate quota of British artists to be employed at cabarets during the same period that foreign artists are so employed?
§ Mr. E. BrownThe number of permits issued to foreign music hall and cabaret artists for the last three years is as follows: 1934, 1,243; 1935, 1,394; 1936, 1,675. Figures showing the number of foreign artists appearing both at music halls and hotels or cabarets are not available. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative, but it is the practice in dealing with applications for foreign variety artists to apply certain rules, including a fixed salary standard, designed to protect the legitimate interests of British artists.
§ Mr. DayIs the Minister aware that the majority of these permits has been granted for nationals of Italy, Germany and Hungary, and that they constitute a bar to our artists?
§ Mr. H. G. WilliamsIs the Minister aware that the Variety Artists' Federation are very aggrieved at the abnormal number of foreign artists coming in?