§ Mr. Rhys Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department the daily average population of Dartmoor and Wandsworth prisons and the number of prison punishments in 1939, 1942 and 1943, respectively; the number of cases of corporal punishment inflicted for offences against prison discipline in 1943; and the prisons in which these floggings took place.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe following are the particulars asked for in the first part of the Question:
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe persons recently transferred to Northern Ireland are in transit to Gibraltar, and will be removed to Gibraltar as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made. They comprise, in the main, persons eligible for evacuation from the London area under arrangements with which my hon. and gallant Friend will be familiar. The accommodation which they were occupying in London was urgently required for other purposes, including the housing of building operatives and homeless war workers. Suitable alternative accommodation was not available in Great Britain, and the Government of Northern Ireland was good enough to make available accommodation in Northern Ireland. The exceptional steps taken to deal with this exceptional problem do not affect the answer which I gave on 13th July on travel restrictions generally, to which at present I have nothing to add. I should like to take the opportunity of expressing His Majesty's Government's appreciation 913W of the public spirited attitude of the Government of Northern Ireland in assisting us to deal with a grave and urgent problem.