§ 25. Mr. Osborneasked the Minister of Fuel and Power on what grounds coal supplies to the ex-Service men's families now squatting in the Waltham, near Grimsby, R.A.F. huts, has recently been cancelled, and, since there is no alternative means of cooking, if he will restore the supply at once.
§ Mr. GaitskellI am advised that this former R.A.F. Camp has been partly taken over by the Rural District Council. The authorised tenants are registered for coal but supplies were withdrawn from four families who are living there without permission. I am instructing the local Fuel Overseer to allow supplies immediately.
§ Mr. OsborneWhile I thank the Minister for that concession, may I ask him if he will look into the fact that the Ministry of Health withdrew their eviction order against these squatters and therefore allowed them to stay there? Was it not a great injustice, therefore, on the part of his officials to stop their coal supplies?
§ Mr. GaitskellThe local fuel overseers, strictly speaking, are not officials of mine but of the local authority. I agree that a mistake was made, and I have taken steps to put it right.