HC Deb 10 November 1953 vol 520 cc755-7
2. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Labour on what grounds William White, 6 Greenhill View, Newcastle, was passed for service in the Army in view of his unsatisfactory medical history since childhood and the fact that he was registered as a disabled person with his Department.

Mr. Watkinson

It has not yet been possible to examine all the relevant documents in this case. I will write to the hon. Member as soon as they are received.

Mr. Dodds

Would the hon. Member be surprised to know that, after this man has suffered four months of torture, the War Office have decided that he will be discharged as unsatisfactory for Army service? In view of the fact that he was a registered disabled man and that he has had sickness all his life, is this not another medical board blunder?

Mr. Watkinson

One of the difficulties of examining these cases in this way in the House is that I must now tell the hon. Member that in reply to the specific question on the medical form, "Are you registered under the Disabled Persons Employment Act?", this man answered, "No." The hon. Member will appreciate the difficulties which this presents to the medical board. It was for that reason that my right hon. and learned Friend wanted to examine this case further. I will write to the hon. Member or see him when that has been done.

Mr. Mellish

May I ask the hon. Member a question on general principle and not of an individual character? Why is it that these people who are graded below Grade I are called up for Her Majesty's Forces? Surely, in these days of peacetime, it is not necessary to call up men who are found by the hon. Member's own medical board to be not medically fit? Why call up Grades II and III?

Mr. Watkinson

That is a much wider question, and if the hon. Member will put it down I will give him the answer.

3. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Labour on what grounds Mr. R. W. Powell, "The Trailer Caravan," Maisons Bridge Road, Redhill, was recommended for Army service and placed in Grade 1.

Mr. Watkinson

Mr. Powell was called up for Army service on 5th February, 1953, because the National Service Medical Board that examined him towards the end of September, 1952, considered that, at that date, he satisfied the conditions laid down for Medical Grade 1. He is still serving in the Army in a lower medical grade.

Mr. Dodds

Is the hon. Member not aware that I have a letter from the War Office which says, Private Powell suffers from hallux rigidus. This is a condition of the feet where the big toe cannot be bent upwards. As a result of this condition and of his defective vision, Private Powell is employed on general duties in a low medical category. Private Powell is excused guards and long marches and has been given R.A.F. pattern shoes to wear. These are soft shoes. Can the hon. Gentleman justify the decision to call this man up? Why has this man been called up into the active Army at all as Grade 1? Is the hon. Gentleman further aware that the N.C.O.s have testified that he is unfit to serve at all but that the medical officer has said that as long as he stands on two feet he will do his two years' Service?

Mr. Watkinson

This case dates back to 1952 and is one of the 20 cases to which my right hon. and learned Friend referred when he made his statement in the House on 27th October in answer to a Question from the hon. Member, who then said, if I remember correctly, that he thought my right hon. and learned Friend had done all that was possible in the circumstances. As for the question of Army treatment of this man, I think the hon. Member has a Question down to my right hon Friend the Secretary of State for War on that subject.