§ 31. Captain Alan Grahamasked the Home Secretary whether the whole community of the German Peace Bruderhof at Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire, has yet been interned?
§ Mr. PeakeThe question of the best method of dealing with the members of this community is being considered, but in advance of executive action it would not be in the public interest to state what measures of control are in contemplation.
§ Captain GrahamIs my hon. Friend fully aware of the position?
§ Mr. PeakeWe have had a great deal of advice given us from a great many quarters in regard to this community. We have the position under constant review. I would point out that only 40 per cent. of the members of the community are either German or Austrian, and that the community is making a valuable contribution to the production of food in this country during the war.
Viscountess AstorIs it not true that this is a community set up after the last war whose sole concern is Christianity, and that the members of it are a great asset to the country instead of a liability?
§ Mr. G. StraussIs the hon. Member aware that this organisation is violently anti-Nazi and that all the members of the organisation remaining in Germany were interned a long time ago?
§ Mr. PeakeAs the Noble Lady said, this is a pacifist community which was driven out of Germany in 1934. Its members all wear brown dressing-gowns and beards and are for that reason unlikely to be employed by the enemy.
§ Captain GrahamDoes the hon. Member consider that the presence of this community is likely to assist the prosecution of the war?