§ 5. Mr. Swinglerasked the First Lord of the Admiralty if he will review the rates of retired pay and pensions payable to retired officers and other ranks of the Royal Navy, in relation to the current cost of living.
§ Mr. J. P. L. ThomasCurrent Government policy is fully set out in Command No. 9092. I have nothing to add to this.
§ Mr. SwinglerDoes the First Lord really say that he is satisfied with the very meagre concessions that were made in that White Paper? Will not the Government take any further action at all to assist these pensioners who are in receipt of completely out-of-date rates of pension which have no relation to the present cost of living? Cannot something further be done to bring those pensions up to modern standards?
§ Mr. ThomasThis is a question which concerns all three Services and, indeed, covers an even wider field. It is really a question for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and I cannot deal with it this afternoon piecemeal by answering for a single Service.
§ Mr. StokesDoes not the First Lord agree that it is a swindle to give a man a pension and then allow the cost of living to rise quite unnecessarily, as the late Government did, and as this Government will no doubt do again? It is really swindling the people out of their just deserts.