HC Deb 09 April 1935 vol 300 c1099

9.35 p.m.

Sir S. HOARE

I beg to move, in page 162, line 18, at the end, to insert: (2) No pension granted or customarily payable on political considerations shall be discontinued save on an order of the Governor-General fin the exercise of his individual judgment or, as the case may be, of the Governor in the exercise of his individual judgment, and any sum required for the payment of any such pension shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation or, as the case may be, the Province. This is really a drafting Amendment. It was pointed out to us that the grants to which the Clause refers are often in the nature of pensions.

Mr. RHYS DAVIES

There is a very small point I want to raise. I am very interested to see in the Amendment the words: No pension granted or customarily payable on political considerations. That is rather a new reason for paying pensions. Would the Secretary of State explain it?

Sir S. HOARE

The kinds of grants referred to here are grants given, let us say, after a campaign. When we use the words quoted we do not use them in the party sense, but refer to the case of a grant to a family that did good service to the Empire in the Afghan War or some previous war, and that kind of thing.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.