HC Deb 14 July 1955 vol 543 cc2091-4
10. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Labour why his Department called up Norman Leslie Mayall for service in the Royal Air Force in view of his severe foot trouble, which necessitates a sitting-down job and exemption from all normal duties; and if he is aware that, at the time of call-up he was entered in the register of disabled persons by his Department.

Sir W. Monckton

Mr. Mayall was medically examined on 8th October, 1953, when he volunteered for a Regular engagement; because of foot conditions which were noted in detail on his medical examination record, he was placed in Medical Grade II. It was because of those conditions that he subsequently applied for admission to the Disabled Persons Register, and was accepted on 24th November. 1953.

Mr. Dodds

How can the Minister reconcile the fact that a man is sent to and kept in the Forces when he holds from his Ministry a disabled person's card? Since it is the Royal Air Force that seems to be so choosey about recruits, how can this system be justified when a man has not been able to do his training and has had a sit-down job all the time? Are we so hard up for recruits?

Sir W. Monckton

I want to make plain that the mere fact that a man is on the Disabled Persons Register does not in the least mean that he is unfit for any form of work. It means that he is under a handicap, and, if he is in Section I, he is considered to be quite capable of doing useful work.

Mr. Shinwell

If the man volunteered for a Regular engagement and was rejected, or otherwise found to be of no use in the Regular Forces, how is it possible to keep him in the Force? Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman not a little disturbed by such cases?

Sir W. Monckton

The advice I had in this case did not disturb me. The man volunteered for service in the Royal Air Force. He was not accepted for that, but the advice I have is that he is fit for the work that he is called upon to do.

11. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister Labour why Mr. J. E. Lock was called up by his Department to serve his National Service in the Army in view of his defective eyes and feet, as well as a deformed second finger.

Sir W. Monckton

Mr. Lock was called up because a National Service medical board was satisfied that he was fit for service. This has since been confirmed by an Army medical board.

Mr. Dodds

Is it not a fact that this man has defective feet and defective vision and a deformed finger of the right hand? Is it not a fact that he could not continue with his training and that he cannot fire a rifle? Surely there are fitter men in the country for service.

Sir W. Monckton

I cannot give medical advice on these matters. This man has been before a board on several occasions, and although he has been placed in Grade II (a), vision and feet, he is regarded by the doctor as fit for service.

Mr. Shinwell

What is this half-disabled man doing? Is he peeling potatoes or running errands for officers' wives or something of that sort? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman inquire?

Sir W. Monckton

If the right hon. Gentleman will forgive my saying so, that is more a question for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War.

29. Mr. Dodds

asked the Minister of Labour, in view of the new evidence sent to him by the hon. Member for Erith and Crayford, in the case of Malcolm Harris, if he will have an investigation made into what happened at the medical examination.

Sir W. Monckton

Yes, Sir. I will write to the hon. Member when I have considered the report.

Mr. Dodds

Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman not think it is a shocking state of affairs that his Department should instruct a man to report to the Royal Air Force while suffering from spinal trouble, wearing a corset with steel supports, of which, he said last week, there was no evidence. Does he know that the doctor asked the man to take it off, and that this man had been attending a local hospital three times a week because of this spinal trouble and because he could not bend? Is there not something radically wrong with the right hon. and learned Gentleman's Department when it asks such a man to go into the Royal Air Force?

Sir W. Monckton

In answer to the hon. Gentleman's question last week, I gave him information which had been supplied to me. He has written a letter which makes me doubt whether that information was right. I at once decided to ask for a report on it, but I should like to see that report before I comment on it.