VISCOUNT ELIBANKMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, since December 16, 1959, the approximately £1,000,000 pre-war claims of British nationals against Japan, which were filed in 1946, are any nearer settlement.]
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)My Lords, I am sorry to have to tell your Lordships that little progress has been made since December 16, although we have continued to discuss with the Japanese Government possible ways of overcoming the difficulty to which I referred in my last reply to the noble Viscount on this subject.
VISCOUNT ELIBANKMy Lords, I beg to thank the noble Marquess for his Answer. May I ask whether he is aware that the promises made by the Japanese Prime Minister in reference to this matter last July, of getting on with the job, are very slow to mature? May we assume that the noble Marquess is not letting this matter rest where it is? I shall come back again and ask him another Question at a short date.