HC Deb 10 November 1937 vol 328 cc1752-3
16. Mr. G. Strauss

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty with regard to the recent advertisement by the Admiralty for dentists, containing the stipulation that applicants must be British subjects of pure European descent, what is meant by pure European descent?

Mr. Shakespeare

The long-standing rule for entry into the commissioned ranks of all branches of the Royal Navy is as follows: Candidates must be British subjects of pure European descent and the sons of persons who are British subjects al the time of the officer's entry. The requirement of pure European descent is not peculiar to the Navy and the use of the term is, I think, well understood.

Mr. Strauss

If a Canadian applied, after having been established in this country for many years, would he have to prove his ancestry right back three or four generations?

Mr. Shakespeare

I presume he would be of pure European descent, as we are.

Mr. Alexander

Are we to take it that those regulations will now entirely debar a qualified man of this kind from the West Indies?

Mr. Shakespeare

If he came under this definition, he would be admitted.

Mr. Strauss

Is this not a step towards acceptance of the Nazi regime?

Hon. Members

Answer, answer!

Mr. Speaker

I must remind hon. Members that my duty towards Members of Parliament is to protect them from discourtesy from other Members of Parliament, and my duty concerns Ministers just as well as others, because Ministers also arc Members of the House of Commons.

Miss Wilkinson

On a point of Order. May I, as a humble backbencher, ask whether it is really part of the duty of the Chair to protect Ministers from perfectly legitimate supplementary questions?

Mr. Speaker

To cry "Answer, Answer!" is not a perfectly legitimate supplementary question.

Mr. Paling

Further to the point of Order, may I ask whether the cry "Answer, Answer!" comes within the category of being discourteous? May I also ask whether this cry has not been a perfectly legitimate Parliamentary cry, at any rate, for a number of years, and perhaps for generations?

Mr. Speaker

It has never been a legitimate cry while I have been in the Chair.