Mr Arthur Allen: It is so long since I ventured to speak in this House that I feel almost disposed to ask for consideration. My chief purpose in speaking on this occasion is to try to deal with some of the points raised referring to the machinery of arbitration and conciliation within a condition of full employment. It is with pride that I mention the fact that some time ago I completed fifty years'...
Mr Arthur Allen: asked the Minister of Supply how far, and for what reasons, it is intended that rubber should replace leather for the soles of soldiers' boots.
Mr Arthur Allen: The maximum was in 1933.
Mr Arthur Allen: We had unemployment then.
Mr Arthur Allen: I am talking about 1920.
Mr Arthur Allen: Their costs have gone up more.
Mr Arthur Allen: By way of preface to what I have to say, I think I ought to declare my interest. I started to work in the boot and shoe industry over 52 years ago in a small village in Northamptonshire at the age of 13, doing 54½ hours a week for half a crown a week. That half a crown to me was symbolic because I had left boyhood behind and had become a man, more or less, and I have been sorry for it ever...
Mr Arthur Allen: That is a Purchase Tax.
Mr Arthur Allen: If we gave them enough dollars.
Mr Arthur Allen: A great deal of public interest has been aroused in this problem of devaluation. Like other hon. Members, I have been doing my best to answer the questions which were inevitably present in the minds of my electors with regard to its significance. The finest answer I could give to those questions was one which I gleaned from an observation made by a speaker from the Front Opposition Bench,...
Mr Arthur Allen: asked the Minister of Fuel and Power whether he has any statement to make respecting the Report of the Committee on Mining Subsidence, Command Paper No. 7637.
Mr Arthur Allen: By way of preamble to what I have to say I should like to repeat some words from the Gracious Speech which were used yesterday by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I do so because of their great significance, and because they might otherwise be overlooked as they have no direct connection with any proposed legislation: It is only by our continued exertions and self-restraint that we shall win...
Mr Arthur Allen: asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Lewis Committee on Court Martial Procedure has yet reported; and whether the report will be published as soon as possible after its receipt.
Mr Arthur Allen: I am glad to have this opportunity of addressing the House, because it was my privilege to be a member of the Parliamentary delegation which returned from Germany last week. I am not arrogating to myself the position of spokesman on behalf of that delegation, because on our return we drew up a Report, which was unanimous, and although that was not part of our obligation we did so, and...
Mr Arthur Allen: asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the need for footwear, both for home and export, boot and shoe factories will be derequisitioned in order to allow of the necessary expansion of output of such footwear.
Mr Arthur Allen: asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the working party for the boot and shoe industry has met; and whether he is satisfied that he is receiving the co-operation of the manufacturers in the matter.