§ 27. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas Mooreasked the Secretary of State for War what changes he proposes to make in the regulations governing the status of Home Guard officers as a result of the recent decision of the Scottish courts in the Mirrilees case?
§ Sir J. GriggNone, Sir. The recent decision of the Scottish courts applies equally to officers and other ranks of the Home Guard and has no relevance to the status of Home Guard officers as such.
§ Sir T. MooreSurely my right hon. Friend does not want to have it both ways. Will he answer this simple question—why is a Home Guard officer regarded as an officer when he dies from injuries sustained on military duty but is regarded as a private soldier when he is treated in hospital for injuries?
§ Sir J. GriggNothing would induce me to embark on a legal argument with my hon. and gallant Friend. I am informed that the decision applies equally to Home Guard officers and soldiers.
§ Sir T. MooreIs not the reason that the Chancellor of the Exchequer wants to seize about one-third of the savings of a man who is a Home Guard officer as Death Duties and that my right hon. Friend wants to save a few shillings on his medical treatment as a private soldier?
§ Sir J. GriggIn answer to the second part of the question, my hon. and gallant Friend has been told over and over again that financial considerations do not enter into the decision at all. If he wants to beat the Chancellor of the Exchequer, I do not see why he should beat me about it. I have learned from experience that he is not backward in doing that.
§ Major-General Sir Alfred KnoxIs it not the right hon. Gentleman's duty to fight the Chancellor of the Exchequer in matters of this kind?
§ Sir J. GriggI did not hear a word of the question.
§ Mr. SpeakerThat has nothing to do with the original Question.
§ 30. Colonel Burtonasked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of recent collapses of men at exercises, he has issued any instructions to the Home Guard command relative to the inadvisability of calling upon men of advanced years, or of less robust physique, to perform the more strenuous duties now being imposed on that force; and whether he has considered the advisability of grading its personnel?
§ Sir J. GriggA circular letter has recently been issued to the commanders of all Home Guard units reminding them that the men in their units of low medical standard or advanced years should not be employed on duties which are beyond their powers. The suggestion in the second part of the Question would involve medical examinations, and I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the answer I gave about this to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Mr. E. P. Smith) on 1st June.
Viscountess AstorIs it not true that some old men who neither drink, smoke nor lead a bad life are sometimes much better than men who have done all three?