6. Mr. LEICESTER HARMSWORTHasked the Under-Secretary of State for War if he will, when framing regulations regarding leave to officers and men who normally reside in the remoter parts of the United Kingdom, take into consideration the time consumed in going to and from their homes, and to grant in addition to the leave reasonable travelling time?
§ Mr. TENNANTI can assure my hon. Friend that the point he mentions is taken into consideration as far as it is possible to do so. I have before explained to the House that the exact rules or conditions under which leave can be given must be a matter for the discretion of the military authorities in France, and that it is not possible to prescribe any stereotyped system from here. It will always be possible, I fear, for comparisons to be made 822 between the treatment of one case and another, but such comparisons must be useless without the full knowledge of the facts present to the mind of the military commander in France. In the case of officers, especially, a definite limit to the number of days absence must be set on military grounds, and those who live at a greater distance must suffer to a certain extent in comparison with those who live at a less distance.