§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ LORDTEMPLEMOREMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be read a second time. The purpose of this small Bill is to improve the machinery in the hands of the Admiralty so as to give it the powers already possessed by the War Office and Air Ministry to demobilise subject to recall to active service. At present the Admiralty can only demobilise men who belong to the statutory reserve forces and pensioners who have been temporarily recalled to service. Men serving under normal engagements or called up under the National Service (Armed Forces) Act can only be released by complete discharge without liability to recall. In practice what has really happened is that men have been discharged if required in civilian life for other forms of national service, or have been granted unpaid leave if they are only required for relatively short periods on specific jobs, such as harvesting work and so forth. If this Bill becomes law, the Admiralty will be able to grant temporary release to men required for other forms of national 115 service, such as skilled work on armaments. The machinery of the Bill is very simple. The first two subsections of Clause I are self-explanatory. Subsection (3) of Clause I gives power to apprehend men who fail to rejoin. Clause 2 (3) is drafted so as to regularise the position of men already released by executive act. I hope I have given all the explanation necessary to your Lordships and I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Lord Templermore.)
§ On Question, Bill read 2a: Committee negatived.