§ 7. Commander Purseyasked the Secretary of State for War the pay of a junior leader on entry; what charges these other ranks are required to pay for non-Service clothes, such as jeans, shirts and basketball boots; and if he will provide these items free for orphans from large poor families.
§ Mr. RamsdenA junior leader on entry is paid 6s. 6d. a day. This will go up to 7s. in April of next year. The Army supplies a boy with all the clothing he needs. If he wishes to wear civilian clothes off duty he would buy them privately and I am therefore unable to say what he would pay for them. I regret that my right hon. Friend is not able to provide items of civilian clothing from Army funds for wear off duty.
§ Commander PurseyWhy does not the Army treat the eldest son of a widow who 353 has four young children, who is entirely dependent upon National Insurance allowances, who has to go out to work—[Interruption.] I will put this question, subject to any ruling from Mr. Speaker, without interruption from hon. Members opposite, who do not want to help poor widows. This widow is entirely dependent on National Insurance allowances and has to go out to work school-cleaning from 6 to 8 in the morning and from 4 till 6 at night in order to earn sufficient money for food. Why does not the Army treat this boy in the same way as the local education authority would treat him and pay for this off-duty clothing instead of taking money away from him when he requires all the money he can get to send home to his mother for the financial assistance of herself and four young children?
§ Mr. RamsdenI know the case that the hon. and gallant Member has in mind, and 1 owe him another letter about it in reply to his last one to me. The position of a widowed mother in these circumstances could be a Government responsibility as regards any help which she might deserve from public funds, but it is not my responsibility. We supply these boys with the clothing they need on duty. We make arrangements to help them to buy and pay for other clothing that they may need, but we cannot go further than providing from public funds what is necessary for them to discharge their duty as soldiers.