Oral Answers to Questions — Prisoners of War – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 2 Rhagfyr 1947.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
12:00,
2 Rhagfyr 1947
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.
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
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.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
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?
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
Of course, they are subject to search by the Customs.
Sir Frank Sanderson
, Ealing East
Can the Minister say when German prisoners will be permitted to remove their identification discs?
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
I was not aware that that was contained in the original Question.
Mr Reginald Paget
, Northampton
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.
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
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.
Mr Reginald Paget
, Northampton
Why has the rate been slowed down?
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
There have been considerable shipping difficulties.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
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?
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
I would like to look into that.
Mr Richard Stokes
, Ipswich
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.
Mr Emanuel Shinwell
, Seaham
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.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
