§ 52. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been directed to the inquest held on the railway platelayer at Oxford on 2nd January, 1939, and to the observations made by the coroner; why the dead man's representative was not allowed to speak at the inquest; and will he inquire into the matter?
§ Sir S. HoareAt the inquest in question there were representatives of two trade unions. As regards the representative of the union to which the deceased man had belonged, no difficulty arose. As regards the representative of the union to which the driver and fireman of the engine concerned in the accident belonged, the coroner took the view that he ought to restrict himself to questions relating to regulations and technical matters. There would seem, however, to be little, if any, ground for differentiating the positions of two representatives in such a case, and the coroner, with whom I have been in communication, tells me that in any future case he is prepared to follow the usual practice.