§ 20. Major Beamishasked the Minister of Labour whether he will state the total number of conscientious objectors, men and women respectively, who have been registered under the Acts to the end of September, 1945; how many have already been released from their obligations of service; and if they are being released under similar conditions of groups, based on age and length of service, as the men and women of the Armed Forces.
§ Mr. IsaacsAs the reply is rather long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the Official Report.
§ Major BeamishWill the right hon. Gentleman tell the House how many have been released, as that is only just one figure, and under what conditions?
§ Mr. IsaacsI must ask the hon. and gallant Member to await the statement, which I think contains the figures he wants.
§ Following is the statement:
§ The latest date for which exact figures are available is 30th June, 1945. At that date, a total of 46,988 men and 909 women had been ordered by Tribunals to be registered as conscientious objectors. 3,577 men and 102 women were registered unconditionally, 28,720 men and 777 women were registered on the condition that they undertook some form of civil work, and 14,691 men and 30 women were registered for non-combatant military service. A number of these persons have renounced their conscientious objection since they were registered, and at present 908 about 25,000 men and 700 women are registered on conditions. Conditionally registered conscientious objectors are under a statutory obligation to carry out work specified by the Tribunals until the end of the present emergency. I am examining the possibility of introducing a release scheme for conscientious objectors, based on the principles of age and length of time conditionally registered, and I hope to be in a position to make a further statement on the subject at an early date.