§ Mr. Cocksasked the Minister of Labour whether his attention has been called to the fact that there are numbers of unemployed dock-workers in London who, being in a reserved occupation, are not allowed to enlist or to dig trenches; and whether he has any plan for dealing with this problem?
§ Mr. BevinI take this opportunity of repeating my recent statement in the House that there is nothing in the Schedule of Reserved Occupations which prevents a man from undertaking any kind of civilian work. The purpose of the Schedule is to prevent workpeople required for the maintenance of necessary production or services from joining the armed forces or enrolling for full-time duties in the Civil Defence services. I have decided that dock workers shall, irrespective of age, be permitted in future to join any of the Defence Services as volunteers.