§ Mr. Parkerasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he is prepared to give an undertaking that the account of every rating discharged from the Navy will be checked by some competent individual to ensure that the country and the rating have both had a square deal, and to put the sailor on the same footing in that respect as a soldier or an airman.
Mr. AlexanderAll pay accounts of naval ratings are kept under the superintendence of an accountant officer. Pay ledgers are maintained in duplicate, accounts being kept independently in each. If my hon. Friend is proposing that every rating's account for the whole of his service should be independently audited when he is discharged. I am afraid that the proposal is not practicable.