§ 7. Wing-Commander Roland Robinsonasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the case of Mr. E. R. Shenton, of 229, Dickson Road, Blackpool, who, in December, 1943, at the age of 17, having served in the A.T.C. for two years, volunteered for the R.A.F. and was passed for air-crew training, put on deferred service and later served as a clerk in the Ministry of Pensions; that in December, 1944, he was released from the R.A.F. and expressed his preference for work in the coal-mines; that preference was refused and he was directed to serve with the Army; and whether he will reverse this decision and make available a willing recruit for the coal-mining industry.
§ Mr. BevinThe hon. and gallant Member wrote to my Department on 15th January about this matter and, as was explained in the reply, men who are on the Deferred Service List of the Royal Air Force are members of the Armed Forces and, as such, are not entitled to express an option for service in the coalmines.
§ Wing-Commander RobinsonIs the Minister aware that this case is typical of many others, and does he not think that the time has come to cut departmental red tape and make available voluntary labour for this form of National Service instead of forcing unwilling labour into the mines?
§ Mr. BevinThis is very difficult to determine. Questions have been put to me from all parts of the House asking me to deal with it the other way. What I have tried to do is to keep strictly to the terms of the ballot.