§ 44. Rear-Admiral Beamishasked the Home Secretary how many married couples are now detained under Regulation 18B; whether he has considered the copy sent to him of a letter addressed to the hon. and gallant Member for Lewes and signed by 12 detained husbands in a camp at Ascot complaining that their wives are detained under prison conditions, only a fortnightly visit of half-an-hour is permitted, and that rent-free premises for the detention and security of married couples have been responsibly offered to the Home Office; and will he give the reason for this continued separation of married couples detained under Regulation 18B while internment in company is granted to married alien couples?
§ Mr. PeakeThere are 18 married couples detained under Defence Regulation 18B. I am obliged to my hon. and gallant Friend for letting me see the letter addressed to him by some of these people; but I know of no foundation for the suggestion in that letter that premises have been offered to the Home Office which would be suitable on security and other grounds for the accommodation of these couples. Nor can I accept the suggestion that because it is hoped to provide married quarters for selected couples who have been interned because of their enemy nationality, similar provision ought to be made for persons who have been involved in such specific activities that their detention under Defence Regulation 18B has been thought necessary for purposes of public safety.
§ Rear-Admiral BeamishIs the hon. Gentleman aware that I, personally, have no knowledge of any of these individuals, 355 and have never heard of or from any of them before, and that similar letters have reached other Members of Parliament? Bearing in mind the treatment of alien married couples, the treatment of these people seems rather fair, in view of the fact that only the Minister and a few other people have any real knowledge of what they have done.