HC Deb 28 June 1927 vol 208 cc220-1W
Mr. MOSLEY

asked the Minister of Labour the reason for the delay, from 10th November, 1926, to 29th January, 1927, in replying to a letter from the clerk to the Smethwick Borough Council informing him of the appointment of Councillor R. A. Baker as his council's representative on the local employment committee?

Mr. BETTERTON

The delay was due to the necessity for making certain inquiries before a final decision could be reached.

Mr. MOSLEY

asked the Minister of Labour whether he has laid down a new rule that no person occupying the position of political agent shall be eligible for appointment to a local employment committee; whether he will give the date on which this rule was laid down; what are the reasons for this change of policy; and whether he will state specific instances where this discrimination has been exercised, together with particulars of the political parties to which the persons concerned are attached?

Mr. BETTERTON

It has always been the policy to keep the local employment committees as far as possible free from politics, and, owing to the activities in which a full-time political agent must be engaged, my right hon. Friend decided at the beginning of last year that a person occupying that position was not eligible for appointment as a member of a committee. I do not think I ought to publish the cases in which the point has arisen, but no distinction is drawn between one political party and another.