§ 38. Mrs. Castleasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will propose the amendment of Article 58 of the Royal Warrant so as to ensure that any war pensioner who has served a sentence of imprisonment is not punished twice for the same offence by being deprived of his war disability pension.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterNo, Sir. It has for a long time been a condition of many forms of public pension that they are liable to forfeiture in cases where the recipient is sent to prison. I have, however, discretionary powers to restore a war pension on release, and these powers are very widely exercised.
§ Mrs. CastleIs the Minister aware that in two recent cases, particulars of which I sent to his Department, two men, one of whom had been rendered deaf and the other had lost a limb in the service of their country, not only had their pensions withdrawn while they were in prison, which is understandable, but have been refused restoration of the pensions on their release from prison on the ground that they have been in prison more than once? Is it not a quite intolerable situation that once a man has served his sentence for a crime he should be punished again by being deprived of a war pension to which he is entitled because of a disability incurred in service on behalf of the country?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI have studied the two cases about which the hon. Lady was in correspondence with the Joint Parliamentary Secretary. I do not want to go into details but both cases involved a number of serious convictions, and warning was given in advance of the possible effect of a further conviction on the payment of the war pension. I do not think that these cases invalidate either the Answer which I gave or the general principle which, as the hon. Lady knows, goes far wider than war pensions.