§ 6. Mr. Gallacherasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many trade union officials have been arrested in Malaya.
Mr. Creech JonesOne hundred and eighty-five trade union officers in the Federation of Malaya have been arrested arising from their association with the insurgents.
§ Mr. GallacherIs not it an intolerable situation for a Labour Government built up by the trade union movement of this country now to be engaged in arresting trade union leaders in defence of tin and rubber monopolies?
Mr. Creech JonesMany of these people who have been actively associated with the recent trouble had left their positions in the trade unions in order to play their parts with the insurgents.
§ Mr. AwberyIs the Minister aware that attempts are being made to impress upon the people that this Labour Government are putting into prison members of the trade union movement because they are trade unionists, and will he make it clear that we are not putting men into prison because they are trade unionists, but because they have broken the law, and that this Government are encouraging the development of the trade union movement in Malaya for all they are worth?
§ Mr. GallacherWill the Minister look up the records when he will see that, wherever trade unionists were attacked or arrested in this country, the Tories always said that it was not because they were trade unionists, but because they had committed a breach of the law?