§ 13. Mr. R. LAMBERTasked whether all men who are in future passed into the Army as medically fit will be entitled to pensions if discharged for physical incapacity of any kind?
§ Mr. TENNANTNo, Sir, I am not prepared in this matter to go further than I went in the answer which I gave on the 10th November, 1915, to the hon. Member for East Edinburgh.
§ Mr. HOGGEHas the right hon. Gentleman sufficiently realised the importance of this point? Seeing that all these men are accepted by the military authorities as medically fit, will the War Office claim, in the event of physical breakdown, that they contracted the disease before they were admitted to the Army?
§ Mr. TENNANTI think I gave my hon. Friend a very full reply the other day on this very matter. Each case is judged on its merits. It is not possible for the military Department to take responsibility in the case of men who have not contracted illness in the service of the State. I am sure that, in the interests of the State, my hon. Friend would not wish us to do anything of the kind.
§ Mr. HOGGEHow does my right hon. Friend meet the point that these men are accepted as medically fit?
§ Mr. TENNANTThe disease may not have been detected; there may have been some previous illness.
§ Mr. CURRIEThere is a class of men who have some disease, latent, no doubt, but which would not have emerged had it not been for the hardships of military service. The disease does emerge owing to those hardships, and the men deserve some 1583 consideration. What is the general position taken up by the War Office in regard to such cases?
§ Mr. TENNANTIt is very difficult to give an answer to so large a question across the floor of the House. But I will say that, speaking generally, that is a medical matter, and the medical authorities would state whether they considered that the actual service of the State had been the reason for the breakdown of the man. If it had been, the man would, of course, receive the pension to which he was entitled.