§ 25. Mr. Goughasked the Secretary of State for War why he has cancelled sixty-nine Territorial camps and ninety-eight Army Emergency Reserve camps; and what plans he has to give alternative training to the men involved.
§ Mr. HeadWe decided that the practical difficulties of rearranging dates at short notice made it undesirable both from the point of view of industry and the men concerned.
§ Mr. GoughWhile I appreciate the difficulties, does it not show a complete lack of initiative that the Territorial Army should be treated in this manner? Is it not also rather parodoxical that the Army Emergency Reserve, when going to camp, should be defeated on the first occasion that there is an emergency?
§ Mr. HeadNo; I do not think that that is a fair deduction. The strike was in progress and it was up to the Army to reduce traffic and travelling to a minimum. Therefore—rightly, I think—we cancelled the camps during the rail strike. To rearrange them would have meant a completely new set of dates. All private arrangements would have been upset and 181 industry also would have had to face new and sudden arrangements. I do not think that in the circumstances we would have been right to rearrange camp dates at short notice, when we would have had the added complications of duplication in other camp areas.