§ 49. Mr. Osborneasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air how many civilians are employed on Royal Air Force stations as batmen and for domes tic purposes; and how many of these were previously employed in agriculture.
Mr. WardThere are about 5,000 civilian batmen and mess staff at Royal Air Force stations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I cannot say how many were employed in agriculture before they entered our service.
§ Mr. OsborneWill my hon. Friend bear in mind that there is great disquiet in agriculture because of the number of men who are attracted to work on the aerodromes and, in view of the need to keep men on the farms, will he discourage this?
Mr. WardAll our employees are engaged through the local employment exchange, and they ordinarily do their best to persuade the agricultural worker to remain in agriculture. In any case, I doubt whether the difference between our wages and those in agriculture is large enough to be considered a temptation by the average agricultural worker. Finally, I hope my hon. Friend is not suggesting that the agricultural worker should be restricted in his choice of employment.