Brigadier-General BROWNasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether he is aware that over 100 Irishmen from the Irish Free State are being employed in building a new aerodrome near the road south of Abingdon, Berks, and that English labourers who have tried to get employed there are being refused a job; and whether he will take steps to see that Southern Irishmen are not employed at a low wage on a Government contract to the exclusion of Englishmen?
§ Sir P. SASSOONI am informed that the contractors are at present employing six labourers from the Irish Free State, all of whom have been working on the site for some time. They are receiving the standard rate of wages for the district. They represent under 2 per cent. of the total number of labourers and tradesmen employed on the site.