§ 41. Flying-Officer Bowdenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if any arrangement has been made with the U.S. authorities whereby a British subject can secure payment of damages awarded in the British courts against a U.S. subject, who is no longer resident in this country.
§ Flying-Officer BowdenIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there is real hardship caused by the lack of such arrangements, and that, in a recent case brought to my notice, a man used his gratuity and brought proceedings, and now finds that he has lost his gratuity, his awarded damages and his wife?
§ Mr. BevinI can only express sympathy with him in regard to the latter. The difficulty with the United States is 328 that there are 48 different jurisdictions, and it is very difficult to deal with the matter in the way in which we can deal with things in this country.
§ Earl WintertonIn view of the promise, given in the Debate which I inaugurated on the subject of the nonfulfilment of affiliation orders against persons who are not British subjects, that the Government would give the most sympathetic consideration to the case, and that negotiations with both Dominion and foreign Governments would take place, can the right hon. Gentleman tell us what progress those negotiations have made?