§ Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to state, in respect of Northern Rhodesia, Malaya, Sierra Leone, St. Helena, Gibraltar, Seychelles, Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago, how many conscientious objectors were registered, approved or accepted, rejected, sentenced and imprisoned or otherwise punished during the last war; and what 222W were the general instructions respecting conscientious objectors sent from his Department during the war.
Mr. Creech JonesIt will be necessary to consult the Governors concerned before a full answer can be given to the first part of this Question, and I will communicate with my hon. Friend when this has been done. As regards the second part, Colonial Governments were informed in October, 1939, that the Secretary of State wished to be consulted before legislation was introduced for compulsory military service, with an intimation that it was desirable that conscientious objectors should not be obliged to render combatant military service. Attention was drawn to the procedure adopted in this country under Section 5 of the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, 1939, for dealing with conscientious objectors.