HC Deb 30 November 1936 vol 318 cc854-5W
Sir A. KNOX

asked the Postmaster-General whether there is any reason why the 1,615 vacancies for postmen and porters filled by the appointment of Post Office servants, mainly boy messengers, in 1935 should not in future years be filled by ex-service men of good character?

Major TRYON

The Post Office undertakes to provide a permanent career for boy messengers, and it also allocates 50 per cent. of the vacancies for postmen and porters to ex-service men. This is a long-standing arrangement, and I could not contemplate a system of blind-alley employment for boys, which would be involved by allocating all the postmen and porter vacancies to ex-service men.