§ Mr. Toucheasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the delay of several weeks which occurs between the hearing of cases of detainees under Regulation I8B before the Advisory Committee, and the notification to such persons of the final decision in their cases; and whether, in view of the small number of cases now involved, it would be possible to expedite the procedure?
§ Mr. H. MorrisonI fully recognise the desirability of reaching and announcing decisions in these cases with the minimum of delay, but there are some cases in which after the receipt of a report from the Advisory Committee further inquiry is necessary. While I am anxious to give early decisions, there are cases in which it would be wrong for me to come to a decision too hastily but I can assure my lion. Friend that every effort is made to secure that there is no avoidable delay in these cases.
§ Mr. McGovernasked the Home Secretary whether a more suitable place of internment can be found for those detained under Regulation I8B than a convict prison, which is without aid-raid shelters; and whether he will arrange their transfer as soon as possible?
§ Mr. MorrisonMost of the persons detained under Regulation I8B are now in a camp in the Isle of Man, but there are some, including among others the leaders of the British Union of Fascists and those whose transfer to prison from the Isle of Man I recently ordered as persons likely to cause trouble in the camp, for whom for various reasons suitable accommodation cannot be provided elsewhere than in prison establishments.
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§ Mr. McGovernasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the putting out of lights for political internees in Brixton Prison at 9 o'clock and, as this constitutes a form of punishment and is contrary to Defence Regulation issued in Cmd. Paper 6162, stating that conditions will be as little as possible oppressive, he will direct the governor there to act in this respect as do the governors of Holloway Prison and the military at Peel?
§ Mr. MorrisonIt has already been arranged that lights will left on in the cells of persons detained under Defence Regulation I8B in Brixton Prison until 10 p.m.
§ Mr. McGovernasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware of the delay in the delivery of letters from the I8B internees in the Isle of Man due to a regulation that open letters handed in at the camp must be sent to Liverpool for censorship; that such a letter, handed in on 17th July addressed to a Mr. Echlin, was sent to Liverpool and not returned to the camp until 16th August, so that, although Mr. Echlin was there until the 19th, it did not reach him until 18th September at Brixton, being then surcharged 5d. postage; and if the experienced military authorities can, in future, censor such letters instead of prison warders?
§ Mr. MorrisonAll letters addressed to persons detained in the Isle of Man are examined by the censorship authorities at Liverpool and not by prison officers. Some time ago I gave special attention to the question of doing all that is practicable to minimise delay, and I am assured that this arrangement does not involve any undue delay in their delivery. Inquiries have been made, but it is not possible 2075W from the available records to confirm the statements made in the Question as to the delay which is said to have occurred in the delivery of this letter. There is no record of the receipt at Brixton Prison of any letter for Mr. Echlin upon which a postal surcharge had to be paid, and my information is that a letter handed in on 17th July upon which a postal surcharge of 5d. had to be paid was received by him in the Isle of Man at some date before he left the camp on 19th August.
§ Mr. Rhys Daviesasked the Home Secretary whether he will give favourable consideration to releasing the few British women still detained in Holloway Prison, under Defence Regulation I8B, either on parole qr with police restrictions?
§ Mr. MorrisonThe cases of these women, like all cases of persons detained under Defence Regulation I8B, are subject to regular review, and the question whether release can be authorised is considered in the light of all the circumstances of each individual case.