HC Deb 21 September 1948 vol 456 cc50-1W
107. Mr. Turner-Samuels

asked the Secretary of State for War the county education authorities in West Wales who have refused to grant facilities for recruitment to the Army Cadet Forces.

Mr. Shinwell

According to Press reports some county or municipal authorities in the following counties have refused co-operation; and some have forbidden cadet contingents in the schools they control or assist: Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Anglesey, Merionethshire and Glamorgan.

Good ex-cadets as they join the Army under the National Service Act, are today earning rapid promotion to commissioned and non-commissioned rank, and are taking up the great majority of vacancies for promotion. I hope, therefore that, on further consideration, the authorities in the areas which I have mentioned, if their attitude is correctly reported, will see that this attitude is not only prejudicing the best interests of the country, but is likely to handicap their own boys in securing promotion to commissioned and non-commissioned rank, so that an unnecessarily large proportion of their boys will, through no fault of their own, have to serve as subordinates to officers and non-commissioned officers from elsewhere instead of taking their place as junior leaders.

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