asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give any information of the conditions under which British volunteers are now living in Finland; and what prospect there is of their repatriation.

The British volunteers stranded in Finland, with the exception of a few who are giving English lessons, are now housed in a camp under the supervision of a Finnish body called the Finnish Volunteers Bureau. The Finnish Government provide board and lodging and 10 Finnish marks a day to each volunteer as pocket-money. The Finnish Aid Bureau, a British institution, provides a supplementary ration, clothing and a further 10 marks a day pocket-money, and, by arrangement with the Finnish Government, certain facilities for recreation. The repatriation of these volunteers depends to a large extent on the granting of visas by the Soviet Government, with whom the question has been taken up.

How many of these volunteers have been repatriated in the last month?

I understand this applies to five of them.

Would not this problem be more capable of solution if the Government were a little more responsive to the requests made by the Soviet Government for the repatriation of Latvian and Estonian seamen?

Certainly the Soviet Government desire the repatriation of these seamen, and we desire the repatriation of our nationals, and so something might be made of this matter at both ends.

While something might be made of it, is it not true to say that His Majesty's Government have been dilatory in coming to a decision in this matter, and is there any hope that more expedition will be shown?

I do not think there is any doubt about the attention paid by His Majesty's Government to this matter, but we have come up against serious difficulties, all of which have been made clear to the Soviet Ambassador in conversations, and we shall do our best to try to reach a settlement.

How many volunteers remain in Finland?

Over 100.