§ Lieut.-Colonel Thornton-Kemsleyasked the Minister of Agriculture to what extent he anticipates that the decrease in soldier labour available for assistance in the gathering of this year's grain and potato harvest will be offset by an increase in the number of Italian prisoners and co-belligerents who can be put on to this work in a year when harvest labour is otherwise likely to fall short of the demand.
Mr. HudsonPresent plans provide for an appreciable increase in the number of Italian prisoners available for agricultural work in Great Britain this year as compared with last, and I hope that these, together with the considerable number of additional volunteers whom we are hoping to recruit, will more than offset the inevitable decrease in soldier labour.