Training Scheme (Interned Refugees).

Oral Answers to Questions — National War Effort. – in the House of Commons at on 30 January 1941.

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Photo of Colonel Josiah Wedgwood Colonel Josiah Wedgwood , Newcastle-under-Lyme

asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that the Ministry of Labour's training scheme for munition workers, although applicable to Jewish refugees, does not cover those refugees who are interned at present; and will he consider taking the appropriate steps to release those refugees who volunteer for training in the same way as he releases volunteers for the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps?

Mr. Morrison:

As I have previously stated, for men who are eligible for the Pioneer Corps the best method of demonstrating their readiness to help the Allied cause is to volunteer for service in that Corps, and I should not be prepared to offer to such men the alternative of volunteering for the training scheme to which my right hon. Friend refers. I am, however, consulting with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour on the question whether the opportunity of entering the training scheme can be offered to those who are found to be physically unfit for the Corps. As my right hon. Friend knows, there are also arrangements for the release of men with special technical qualifications.

Captain Shaw:

Can the Home Secretary tell us how many of these people have volunteered to join the civil corps?

Mr. Morrison:

I cannot say without notice.