asked the Secretary of State for War if he will give an estimate of the period by which it would be possible to reduce the time of service in the Far East towards the target of three years four months if L.I.A.P. were now abolished; and how soon he expects that every man who has served for three years four months in the Far East will be repatriated.

:It is doubhtful whether the abolition of L.I.A.P. would affect the length of the Python tour to any material extent, as the numbers are comparatively small. But I am pleased to say that our plans for reducing the length of the tour are bearing fruit. It is now hoped that, in general, all those with three years and four months or more Python service at 31st December, 1945, will be either home or en route by that date.