HC Deb 09 May 1957 vol 569 c1173
44. Mr. Remnant

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British refugees from Egypt have claimed on the Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board for arrears of pension due to them by the Egyptian Government; and how many have not yet received their arrears.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Lord Privy Seal (Mr. R. A. Butler)

The Board has paid arrears in full to 393 former pensioners of the Egyptian Government. Applications which have been received recently from 28 other persons are still under consideration.

Mr. Remnant

In view of the widespread public feeling that the Hungarian refugees are receiving better treatment than our own nationals from Egypt, will my right hon. Friend do all that is possible to speed up applications received and payments resulting therefrom?

Mr. Butler

It is the fact that the 28 people whose applications are still outstanding happen to have applied rather late. If they had applied earlier we should have dealt with their cases earlier. Therefore, I do not think that my hon. Friend has any reason for thinking that we are not doing our best to deal with our own nationals, which it is our desire to do.