The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes : The
House of Commons has not been long in showing Sir Kingsley Wood the difference between the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Health. The debate on the Committee stage of the Air Navigation (Financial Provisions) Bill turned almost entirely upon Imperial Airways and the attitude of its directors towards collective bargaining. The Minister was able to assure the House that only one of the dismissed pilots had failed to find further employment. But the House, which has not forgotten the strictures on this company contained in the Cadman Report, was not disposed to let the matter rest there. Mr. Montague, Mr. Mander and Mr. Perkins all repeated the charge that men had been victimised simply because they had taken part in forming a Trade Union. Their statements remained tmcontradicted : indeed, the Minister declared in terms that he was not in a position either to controvert or to deal with them. Such an admission was scarcely calculated to placate the critics, and the debate continued into the small hours of Wednesday morning. How far the Government should accept responsibility for the action of a private company which is subsidised out of public funds is a question which has never yet been determined. Clearly some general rule will need to be formulated. * * * *
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