§ 23. Mr. Usborneasked the Secretary of State for War when he expects to be able to answer the letter dated 4th November, 1954, written to him by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley, regarding the treatment of Private Trevor Floyd at Castle Bromwich.
§ The Secretary of State for War (Mr. Antony Head)My hon. Friend has written several times to the hon. Member about this case, his final letter being on 25th February, 1955.
§ Mr. UsborneDoes the Secretary of State realise that that letter was not received until after I had put my Question on the Order Paper; and that, secondly, the information in it is totally incorrect? Is he not aware that the letter to me says that Trevor Floyd, the man in question, was posted to light duties as a sick man. In fact, I have in my hand a letter from the commanding officer saying that for five weeks he, the commanding officer, did not know that Floyd was a sick man at all, and that he was in fact on ordinary duties for all those five weeks. When the C.O. eventually learnt of Floyd's condition, he wrote:
You can be assured however that light duties will now be given him.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I must protest against hon. Members trying to make Question Time the same sort of occasion as Motions for the Adjournment, and dealing with cases at that length. It is not fair to other hon. Members.
§ Mr. HeadIf the hon. Member will send me that letter, I will look into it. This happened in 1950, and it is going a long way back, but I should like to look into it.