HC Deb 06 December 1949 vol 470 cc1697-9
37. Mr. Swingler

asked the Secretary of State for War how many of the 30,000 United Kingdom troops of all services in the Suez Canal Zone are at present living under canvas.

38. Mr. A. R. W. Low

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will make a statement on the existing accommodation for officers and men and their families in the Suez Canal Zone; and what proposals he has for improvement.

Mr. Shinwell

Approximately three-quarters of the officers and men of the British Army in the Suez Canal Zone are living in camps with tented sleeping quarters and hutted messes and ancillary buildings. The remaining single officers and men are living either in fully hutted camps or in pre-war barracks. Work is in hand to improve the tented camps but it will necessarily take a considerable time to bring them all up to an adequate standard. War Department accommodation exists for approximately 800 families. The provision of new married quarters is under consideration.

Mr. Low

When the right hon. Gentleman was out in that part of the world he was reported as having said that he had no idea that the accommodation was as bad as it turned out to be. Does he not bear in mind the many occasions on which hon. Friends of his, as well as hon. and right hon. Gentlemen on this side of the House, have told him about this; and is it not now long overdue for something to be done for these men serving in a most important part of the world?

Mr. Shinwell

I was well aware from the information I received from the War Office and elsewhere that barrack conditions and general housing accommodation were unsatisfactory, but I did not realise that conditions were so bad regarding certain categories of accommodation. Obviously this is a very serious problem which must receive very close attention.

Lieut-Commander Gurney Braith-waite

Are the improvements centred on Fayid or do they include other parts of the Canal Zone?

Mr. Shinwell

That is another matter which is under consideration.

Mr. Gallacher

Can the Minister tell me why it is that he is responsible for keeping these lads under such conditions in view of the fact that for so many years he held the opinion that all these lads should be at home fighting for possession of their own country?

Mr. Speaker

That is another question.

Mr. Shinwell

The second part of the supplementary question is quite irrelevant. With regard to the conditions, I want to make it clear that it must not be assumed that the conditions are altogether unsatisfactory. Some of the conditions are most unsatisfactory, but some men are living in quarters which are quite good.

Colonel Gomme-Duncan

The right hon. Gentleman said that there is accommodation for 800 families. Can he assure the House that there are not more than 800 families in that area?

Mr. Shinwell

I referred to War Department accommodation.

Mr. Low

Can the right hon. Gentleman say how his hon. Friend has discovered that there are exactly 30,000 United Kingdom troops in this area when it has been the policy of his right hon. Friends and himself to decline to tell us in this House how many people there were in a particular zone? Ought he not to deny the figure? Is there not some security interest there?

Mr. Shinwell

I am neither denying nor affirming the figure.

Mr. Swingler

Did not my right hon. Friend read the "Daily Express" while he was out East? It has the best possible information about the number of troops.

Mr. Shinwell

I am not prepared to take any instructions about my literary fare.