§ Mr. J. Silvermanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in reference to each of the labour attachés in British embassies or legations, the trade union of which he is, or has been, a member; and what office he has held in that union and for how long.
§ Mr. MayhewI would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the224W Member for Sunderland (Mr. F. Willey), on 7th July in which I described the basis on which labour attachés are selected and the functions which they perform. As I said in that reply, all the existing attachés have been selected from permanent officials of the Government service who have firsthand knowledge of industrial conditions and social administration. While it is possible that certain of the attachés may have been members of trade unions before they entered the Government service several years ago, I have no definite information on this, and so far as I know none of them has held office in a trade union.