HC Deb 24 February 1948 vol 447 cc1754-5
33. Mr. Osborne

asked the Secretary of State for War how many soldiers' families who returned to England on 18th February in the troopship "Lancashire" had left England last autumn; how many weeks were they in Japan; and is he satisfied that those arrangements could not have been avoided.

Mr. Shinwell

No soldiers' families arrived in the United Kingdom on r8th February on the "Lancashire."

Mr. Osborne

Can the Minister confirm the fact that the soldiers' families were in Japan a matter of five or seven weeks, and is it not a shocking waste of public money to let such things happen?

Mr. Shinwell

That is quite a different question.