§ 46. Captain Robert Ryderasked the Prime Minister whether, arising out of the substantial increase in pensions and terminal grants now paid to Service personnel qualifying on or after 1st September, 1950, he will include in these benefits those who by their terms of service would have qualified for this had they not been disabled prior to that date.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. As I stated in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Woking (Mr. Watkinson) yesterday in a written answer, the position of men who left the Services before the operative date of the recent improvements in retirement benefits cannot be considered in isolation from that of other State pensioners.
§ Captain RyderWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that we are faced here with a very real anomaly? Will he kindly look into this matter again, because it imposes great hardship on a person who, for instance, was seriously disabled in Malaya or somewhere like that shortly before this arbitrary date was fixed?
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. That is one of the difficulties which always attaches to fixing arbitrary dates.