§ Mr. ACLANDasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether permission has been refused to officers of the Navy to join a trade union, namely, the National Union of Scientific Workers; whether any persons subject to the Naval Discipline Acts are permitted to join any trade unions; and, if the answers to the first two parts of the question are in the affirmative, why this differentiation is made between the National Union of Scientific Workers and other trade unions?
§ Dr. MACNAMARA. The reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The reply to the second part is that Admiralty permission has not been given to any person under the Naval Discipline Act to join a trade union, so far as can be traced in the short time available for reply to this question. The third part of the question does not, therefore, arise.