HC Deb 23 March 1960 vol 620 cc476-7
7. Mr. Lipton

asked the Secretary of State for Air why coloured airmen are not admitted to the Nyali Centre in Kenya, to which other airmen serving in Aden are sent on leave.

8. Mr. Driberg

asked the Secretary of State for Air why coloured airmen serving in Aden are not allowed to go to the Nyali leave centre in Kenya; why the Royal Air Force has accepted this discrimination; what attempts have been made to find other places, with equally good facilities, at which both white and coloured airmen can spend their leaves; and what rent is paid for the use of this centre.

Mr. Ward

Because of the terms under which the property is leased to the War Office, coloured airmen cannot use the Nyali Leave Centre. I understand that the annual rent is £1,600.

I am considering alternative arrangements for the airmen affected.

Mr. Lipton

This is a scandal and an outrage. Will the right hon. Gentleman make the strongest possible representations to his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War to end this really intolerable state of affairs? Will he agree that it is quite monstrous that certain Service men, who are rendering just as loyal service as their fellow Service men, should be victimised in this most unpleasant way?

Mr. Ward

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that there is no colour bar of any sort whatever in the Royal Air Force. I will certainly consult my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War, and see what we can do to put this matter right.

Mr. Driberg

Does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that by accepting this discriminatory clause, he is in fact operating a colour bar in the Royal Air Force? Now that Questions have been put down and asked, the right hon. Gentleman has kindly said that he will consult his right hon. Friend. May I ask him what was done before by the Air Ministry and the War Office to try to get this clause removed from the lease?

Mr. Ward

The hon. Gentleman knows that the lease is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the War Office. So far as the Royal Air Force is concerned, to the best of my information this problem has only just arisen.

Mr. J. Griffiths

Who was the leaseholder who insisted on putting this clause in? [Interruption.] Surely, Mr. Speaker, I am entitled to ask this, since it must be within the knowledge of the right hon. Gentleman? Who was the leaseholder who insisted on putting this colour bar in the lease?

Mr. Ward

There is another Question to my right hon. Friend later on the Order Paper relating to that, and I would ask the right hon. Gentleman to await it.

Mr. de Freitas

Will the Secretary of State consult his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for War and ask him to answer Question 68, if it is not reached, because that Question deals with that very matter?

Mr. Ward

If it is not reached, a Written Answer will be given.