41. Mr. HARDIEasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is prepared to exercise his discretion in favour of Mr. J. D. Johnston, tax officer, Glasgow second district, who is a claimant under the reassessment of balance of civil pay of certain civil servants who served with His Majesty's forces during the Great War, in view of the fact that Mr. Johnston's failure to attest was solely due to confusion on the part of the military authorities owing to their failure to transfer certain papers from Darlington to Aberdeen?
Mr. GUINNESSAs I have previously stated, the judgments of the Court of Appeal in the cases of Pidduck and others are not applicable to persons who were deemed to have been enlisted under the Military Service Acts. Mr. Johnston was so enlisted, and I regret that it is impossible for me to exercise a discretion in his favour.
Mr. HARDIESince it is no fault of Mr. Johnston's that he is placed in the position he is in now, and it can be clearly shown by his papers that it is the fault of the Department, is there not some way in which justice can go out to this man?
Mr. GUINNESSI am afraid it would be impossible to go into the motives why people were enlisted and whether they made any attempt to join before the Military Service Act. As this case has throughout been argued on the legal interpretation, I am afraid it is impracticable for us to go beyond it.
Mr. HARDIESeeing that the papers are in existence, and that the proof he gives as to their being at a certain point on a certain date at which the man was at another point, and the time the Government took in getting the papers for the man took him beyond the date—
Mr. GUINNESSI am afraid if we must go beyond the legal claim we shall have a very large crop of hard cases with which it would be impossible to deal.
Mr. HARDIEIs there going to be no moral sense at all in dealing with a case like this? It is an absolutely clear case where a man has been "done down," to put it in vulgar language, but it is no more vulgar than the act that has taken place, and I hope the Treasury is going to do something.
42. Mr. AMMONasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that professional ex-service men employed in the Civil Service are not allowed to count their period with the colours for Civil Service pension purposes; that civil servants who joined the fighting forces temporarily during the War are permitted to count the period of such service for Civil Service pension purposes; that policemen and several other categories of public servants who join the Civil Service are allowed their previous public service for Civil Service pension purposes; and that the claim of the professional ex-service men was favourably reported on by the Ward Committee as long ago as 1906; and whether he will now take steps to grant the claim?
Mr. GUINNESSI would refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to the hon. Member for the Hornsey Division on the 24th February last.
Mr. AMMONArising out of the right hon. Gentleman's unsatisfactory answer, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment.