asked the Secretary of State for War whether he has been able to make arrangements to speed up the return to Germany of prisoners of war due for repatriation and held in transit camps.

Yes, Sir. Arrangements have now been made to reduce the time spent in transit to a maximum of five days and a minimum of two.

Can my right hon. Friend assure the House that some arrangements have been made so that the kits and other packages which a prisoner takes back with him are not tampered with in the transit camps?

Of course, they are subject to search by the Customs.

Can the Minister say when German prisoners will be permitted to remove their identification discs?

I was not aware that that was contained in the original Question.

asked the Secretary of State for War the number of German prisoners of war who have been repatriated from the Middle East; the number still to be repatriated; and the present rate of repatriation.

Approximately 35,000 prisoners of war have been repatriated from the Middle East and some 61,000 remain to be repatriated. It is now hoped to repatriate 1,000 during December, and to raise the rate to an average of approximately 5,000 a month during the first three months of next year.

Why has the rate been slowed down?

There have been considerable shipping difficulties.

Can the Minister so arrange things that the official repatriation of these men coincides with the official repatriation of men from this country, that is, at the end of August?

I would like to look into that.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether he is yet in a position to make a statement with regard to the continued policy of taking into consideration political grading in considering repatriation of prisoners of war from the Middle East, in view of the fact that this practice has already been abandoned in the United Kingdom.

Yes, Sir. I have decided that the regulations in the Middle East can be brought into line with those in force in the United Kingdom, so that in future no differentiation will be made between prisoners of war of political categories B and B minus in deciding their order for repatriation.