The two main reasons for their internment were political re-education (Wilton Park), and for non-officers employment as agricultural and other labour.[25][26] In 1946 a fifth of all agricultural work in the UK was performed by German prisoners.[26] An emotional and public debate ensued in the UK, where words such as "slaves", "slave labour" and "forced labour" were increasingly used in the media and in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[27] In 1947 the Ministry of Agriculture argued against rapid repatriation of working German prisoners, since by then they made up 25 percent of the land workforce, and they wanted to use them also in 1948.[27] Faced with political difficulties in using foreign labour, the Ministry of Agriculture offered a compromise solution, in which German prisoners who volunteered were to be allowed to remain in Britain as free men.[27] Following disputes about how many former prisoners of war would be permitted to remain voluntarily in Britain and whether they would first have to return briefly to Germany before being allowed to officially migrate to Britain,[27] by the end of 1947 about 250,000 of the prisoners of war were repatriated, and the last repatriations took place in November 1948.[26] About 24,000 chose to remain voluntarily in Britain.[26]