§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the difficulties experienced by members of the public and Members of Parliament in obtaining telephone connections with the Treasury on Monday, 27th January; what was the reason for this; and what action he proposes to take to prevent this in the future.
§ Mr. StonehouseYes. I assume that the difficulties to which my hon. Friend refers were those created by an apparently unofficial walk-out of most of the Post Office telephonists staffing the Treasury switchboard. The action was taken in furtherance of the recent industrial dispute between the Post Office and the Union of Post Office Workers. Unofficial action at a time of such dispute cannot always be prevented. I regret the difficulties that were caused to callers.