HC Deb 02 December 1952 vol 508 cc1255-7
1. Mr. F. Maclean

asked the Minister of Pensions why former Far Eastern prisoners of war, now resident overseas, are not eligible for the special grants paid to those in the United Kingdom; and what steps he is taking to compensate them.

2. Mr. Leather

asked the Minister of Pensions whether, in the distribution of the cash award to ex-Far East prisoners of war, he will make some arrangement to include those who have migrated from one part of the Commonwealth to another; and if steps will be taken to bring this matter to the attention of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers assembled in London.

The Minister of Pensions (Mr. Heathcoat Amory)

Owing to the smallness of the sum available, it was necessary to restrict the categories of beneficiaries and, in these circumstances, I am sorry that it has not been possible to include the persons mentioned by the hon. Members. The question of making some reciprocal arrangements to cover those who are outside the United Kingdom presents many difficulties, and I regret to say that I do not think this could be usefully pursued.

Mr. Maclean

Will my hon. Friend not agree that it is very unfair to this particular category of ex-prisoners of war who underwent exactly the same hardship as ex-prisoners who still live in this country? Why should they be discriminated against in this way?

Mr. Amory

I am afraid I shall have to adhere to the residential qualification which has been in the scheme since it was first announced in this House in July, 1951. There will, however, be some borderline cases, and I shall look at them as sympathetically as possible to see if there is anything we can do in dealing with them, but I am afraid that the residential qualification in the United Kingdom will be very hard to depart from.

Mr. Leather

While I am actually sorry that my hon. Friend cannot accept the suggestion in the Question of a kind of knock-for-knock agreement, may I ask him if he will give very special consideration to see whether he cannot do something for this small number of unfortunate men when other means become available to him under Article 16 of the Treaty?

Mr. Amory

Yes, Sir. My hon. Friend will realise, however, that my task is limited to distributing the sum available under Article 14. We hope that something will eventually become available under Article 16, but this, first of all, will primarily be a matter for the International Red Cross. If my hon. Friend has any question on that matter no doubt he will put it down to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary.

Mr. Teeling

Will my hon. Friend tell me what is the position about people from Southern Ireland who volunteered before the war and during the war? There was no pressure put on them to volunteer and they did so while members of the Commonwealth. What is their position today?

Mr. Amory

I am afraid that as the matter stands at present they will be excluded from this scheme because they fail to have a United Kingdom residential qualification, but all these difficult cases will be looked into when the time comes and I am in a better position to see how much money is going to be available from the proceeds of the sale of these assets.

3. Mr. J. Hynd

asked the Minister of Pensions whether the distribution of compensation payments from Japanese assets in the United Kingdom to dependants of ex-prisoners of war will include parents of men who died in Japanese camps.

Mr. Amory

I would refer the hon. Member to the statement I made in reply to Questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Peterborough (Mr. H. Nicholls), and Blackpool, South (Mr. R. Robinson) on 25th November.

Mr. Hynd

As I have not got those answers before me, will the Minister make it clear whether they were in the negative, and whether the negative will also apply to the Article 16 distribution; would it cover parents who are receiving a parents' pension in respect of their sons?

Mr. Amory

The answer was to the effect that I am not able at present to come to a decision as to whether it will be possible to extend the categories to include the parents, but I shall take that decision as soon as I am in a position to know how much money is available. I was hoping that if all goes as well, as we hope it will, it may be possible to extend it to some categories anyhow.

Mr. G. Thomas

Will the Minister expedite his decision in this matter, because it is grossly unfair that parents of a man who died in a camp who are now in necessitous circumstances will not have what their son would obviously have been giving to them had he not lost his life?

Mr. Amory

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is extraordinarily difficult to administer a thing like this with absolute perfection. We are out to do our very best, and I can assure him there will not be any unnecessary delay in reaching the decision I have indicated, but I cannot commit myself to anything until I know how much money will be available.

Captain Pilkington

Will my hon. Friend not agree that parents ought to qualify for this, and will he look at it with all the sympathy possible?

Mr. Amory

Certainly.