§ 2.54 p.m.
§ THE EARL OF CORK AND ORRERYhad given Notice that he would ask His Majesty 's Government whether it is their intention, in the event of being returned to office, to institute an inquiry to examine the past methods of administer- 582 ing the various Acts and Royal Warrants relating to Service pensions; whether such an inquiry will be given the power to report what steps, if any, are necessary for the removal and prevention of legitimate grievances, and will refer to past wars of this country in which His Majesty's Forces have been engaged.
§ The noble Earl said: My Lords, before I put the question which stands on the Paper in my name I would call your Lordships' attention to its wording, which is based upon that of a Resolution adopted by your Lordships' House without a Division in October last. That wording was chosen because I hoped it would remind the Government of that Resolution. It would not have been necessary for me to put down this question and occupy your time if there had been any mention, in the declaration of policy that has been issued by the Government, of their intention to do anything on behalf of the widows and orphans of men who have fallen in the war. There is no mention of them in that declaration and there has been no mention of them in any of the speeches I have heard made by the great stars of the political firmament on recent nights. I have listened to them all and in not one of their addresses was there any mention of anything of the sort. I include the addresses made by two political heads of two great fighting Services.
§ There was a paragraph in the declaration of policy in which we were told we must fulfil our obligations. The Government were to fulfil our obligations to the men and women of the Services and a rosy prospect of special training, etc., was held out for them. But surely at the present time the people to whom we ought to think of fulfilling our obligations are those who have fallen in the war and will not come back—those who by so doing, contributed to a victory without which we should have no prospect of fulfilling any obligations. The first obligation we should fulfil, I think your Lordships wit' agree, is the obligation we owe to those who have lost their lives in the war, and we can do this in part by being generous to their dependents and seeing that they are fully provided for—not seeing how little we need give them, but how much we can give them. The necessity for doing this was well exemplified by the statement 583 made the other day which has already been alluded to this afternoon. I refer to the statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer giving the reduced value of the pound sterling now compared with its value in the year before the war. How is this altered value going to affect the pensions and allowances given to officers and men not only of this war but of previous wars? Surely the time has now come when all pensions and allowances in respect of all our wars should be put on the same level.
§ They are not on the same level now, and they should be put on the same level. The men have performed the same services and they have got to live in the same community at the same cost of living as their younger colleagues who have been in recent wars. If I may, I would paraphrase one of the paragraphs of the declaration by substituting the word "pensions" for "taxes" and ask the Government to re-examine the whole structure of pensions after the war in order to lighten the burden where it presses most and to simplify the pension system. I submit that that is the only way to remove the many legitimate grievances which at this moment exist and which are causing discontent. I beg to put the question standing in my name.
§ 2.57 p.m.
§ LORD TEMPLEMOREMy Lords, I have been asked to reply to the noble and gallant Admiral. The views of His Majesty's Government in this matter were clearly stated in the debates which took place in this House on the 11th and 18th October of last year. In giving further consideration to the question His Majesty's Government will not overlook the Resolution passed by this House on the latter of these dates in favour of an inquiry after the conclusion of hostilities. In another place only a month ago my right honourable friend the Prime Minister gave a reminder that, although there was a comprehensive review of war pensions in July, 1943, further improvements had since taken place. He also gave an assurance that the system would continue to be adjusted as and when required. Even more recently my right honourable friend the Minister of Pensions said in the same place that, if the question of setting up a Select Committee was to be considered with full knowledge of the relevant facts, 584 this could not be done until the war is completely ended.
This latter statement accords closely with the views of this House which passed a Resolution in October last to the effect that "in the opinion of this House it will be necessary to institute an inquiry after the conclusion of hostilities." This Resolution remains on record and if His Majesty's present Government are returned to office it will be kept in mind as an expression of the views of this House when the time comes to which it refers. That time has not yet arrived, but in the meantime it may be well to remind the noble Earl of the machinery which exists in the Minister's Central Advisory Committee for the consideration of general matters affecting the principle of war pension administration. Here any question of importance may be discussed and the Minister does not hesitate to seek the Committee's advice whenever it is desirable to do so. In all the circumstances I hope my noble friend will be content to leave the matter for the present on the basis of the Resolution placed on record by this House together with the assurance that at the proper time it will not be overlooked.
THE EARL OF CORK AND ORRERYMy Lords, I beg to thank the noble Lord for his answer. While I accept his statement gracefully I wish to remind him again that later on, if it is overlooked and the subject fails to be reviewed, I will raise it once more.