§ 15. Mr. SNOWDENasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware of complaints as to the insufficiency of the food supplied to conscientious objectors in prison, and that, in consequence, many of them are suffering severely in health; whether it is the prison custom to allow a prisoner to lose a certain amount of weight before any account is taken of the fact; and, seeing that many of these conscientious objectors have served successive terms of imprisonment, and that the base weight is taken as the weight when the prisoner on each occasion enters prison, and thus no account is taken of weight previously lost, whether, in the circumstances, he will give attention to this matter?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Brace)The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the negative. As to the third part, the medical officer orders extra food for any prisoner as soon, as he requires it, an important consideration being whether the prisoner is below the standard weight. The matter receives constant attention, and no fresh instructions are required.
§ Mr. SNOWDENIs it not a fact that the base weight of these men is taken at the time they enter prison and the fact that they have lost weight in previous periods of imprisonment is not taken into account at all?
§ Mr. BRACENo; I do not think that is so. The standard weight is the normal weight of a healthy man of that age and height and the medical man is guided by that in coming to his conclusion.
§ Mr. SNOWDENIn estimating the amount of weight a prisoner has lost is the original weight at the time he first entered 1966 prison taken as the base weight or the weight when he entered prison on a subsequent occasion?
§ Mr. BRACENo; I think the standard weight must be taken to mean exactly what I have said. It would be no disadvantage to some of us to lose weight.
§ Mr. SNOWDENWould the right hon. Gentleman himself like to undergo a course of this treatment?