§ 28. Mr. Yorkasked the Secretary of State for Air how many airmen have been sent on leave owing to lack of fuel for heating at their camp; and how many are at present on leave for this cause.
§ The Secretary of State for Air (Mr. Arthur Henderson)No airmen have been sent on leave this winter because of lack of fuel at units. Four hundred airmen at one unit may, however, be sent on leave tomorrow as a result of a fuel shortage. Emergency stocks are being sent immediately to the station concerned, and it is hoped that they will arrive in time to make this step unnecessary.
§ Mr. YorkIs not the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that I am constantly meeting men up and down the country who tell me that they have been sent on leave for this reason? Further, is he aware that somewhere between 400 and 600 men from Moreton-in-the-Marsh training station are to go on leave for a month in the near future? Does it make sense to call up 250,000 reservists while sending on leave men from training establishments?
§ Mr. HendersonI should be grateful if the hon. Member would give me any particulars that he has. I have consulted every R.A.F. command in the country, and the information I have given to the House is that which I have received. Moreton-in-the-Marsh is the case to which I referred in my original reply. The men have not gone on leave and if fuel reaches the camp tomorrow, as it is expected to do, they will not go on leave.
§ Mr. SpeakerMr. Russell.
§ Mr. SpeakerI think that the answer was quite comprehensive.