§ 24. Mr. Fletcherasked the Minister of Defence whether, in view of the evidence of the increasingly distressing circumstances in which many of the surviving Polish ex-Regulars have been living in the United Kingdom in the last six months, he will now take the necessary steps to ensure that they may receive a military pension.
§ The Minister of Defence (Mr. Peter Thorneycroft)There are some difficulties about the solution suggested by the hon. Member, but I am considering whether there is anything more that can be done to help in cases of distress.
§ Mr. FletcherI congratulate the Minister on his new appointment. In view of the protestations on this subject which have been made to the Prime Minister and to others in the past, may we now have some hope that the new Minister will adopt a more liberal and enlightened policy on this subject and will correct what has been a manifest injustice for many years past?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI think that everybody has a good deal of instinctive sympathy for the gallant officers and men who came to help us, but there are difficulties about that particular solution. I have not had time to examine the matter in great detail. I have tried to leave a little chink open so that I may examine it further.
§ Sir H. Legge-BourkeWhen considering this matter, will my right hon. Friend have examined very fully the arrangements which the French Government have come to with the present Polish Government about providing the necessary finance to enable a pension as of right to be paid to Polish ex-Service men who live outside Poland?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftYes, Sir. I think that there is a good deal of misunderstanding about what other Governments have done and about what we have done. We have done a great deal for the Poles, but I will examine all these matters.