HC Deb 03 December 1963 vol 685 cc967-8
27. Mrs. Braddock

asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether he will arrange to repay post-war credits in cases where a citizen intends to emigrate and where he has been accepted by the country to which he desires to go.

Mr. Green

No, Sir.

Mrs. Braddock

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in some of these cases the post-war credit has been denied to younger people who have not been able to claim because of the age of the person who had passed away? Would it not be better to give them the opportunity to use this money rather than that it should be left for the length of time it may need to be left before they can claim?

Mr. Green

I appreciate the hon. Lady's concern about this. I accept that this is a difficult matter but we laid down certain classes of persons falling within certain categories of hardship to whom early repayment can be made and is made. I do not think that I can regard an intention to emigrate as affording sufficient ground for preferential treatment.

Sir J. Langford-Holt

Bearing in mind that these are debts which the Government have owed to citizens for twenty years, may I ask whether my hon. Friend is still looking actively for new categories to whom repayment can be made at the earliest opportunity?

Mr. Green

My hon. Friend will appreciate that we have debated this in the House many times before and that it is difficult to introduce a new category that can hold water, so to speak, against all others, but a steady and quite rapid reduction in the total amount of postwar credit outstanding has of course been made.