§ Major BOWDENasked the Minister of National Service whether he has con- 2028W sidered the case of George Hinchcliffe, of Gleadless, Derbyshire, a small farmer and pig-breeder, thirty-six years of age, and working entirely single-handed; whether it is an oversight that this man, solely engaged on food production and who supplied this year 42,000 lbs. of pork and is rearing at the present time 135 pigs for next year's supply, has been called up for military service; has he taken any steps through the usual channels to prevent this stoppage of a regular source of food supply; and will he issue a clear instruction that such men shall not be interfered with while carrying on urgent work of national importance?
§ Sir A. GEDDESThe case of George Hinchcliffe has not previously been brought to my notice, but I am now making inquiries. No man can be called up for military service if he holds a certificate of exemption granted by one of the statutory tribunals, and there is additional protection for men whole time employed in agriculture, to whom, in appropriate cases, the County Agricultural Executive Committees can issue vouchers which protect the holders from enlistment. These are the usual channels through which men engaged in food production are exempted from military service, and clear instructions have been given to the recruiting authorities that men so exempted or protected are not to be called up.