asked the Secretary of State for War whether he will state the present procedure with regard to employing on the land prisoners of war in this country; how many sections of them are not being asked to do such work; and what, in such cases, is the reason?

In addition to the prisoners of war already held in the United Kingdom, arrangements have been made for large numbers of Italian prisoners to be brought from the Middle East. Of those who have already arrived, a large proportion have been allotted to agriculture. The rest are employed on work of other kinds, including the construction of accommodation for future arrivals.

Is there any truth in the statement that Italian prisoners of war are not expected to work on saints' days?

I have not heard of that, but I will inquire about it.