§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are considering making further concessions in relation to the repayment of Post-war Credits, so that applications for repayment to ex-Service men of the 1914–18 war, who paid heavy taxation during the last war and then contracted tuberculosis with loss of income during treatment and much reduced income since, may be granted even if the fixed age limit has not been reached.]
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO (THE EARL OF DUNDEE)My Lords, a man who has reached the age of 63 is at present entitled to claim repayment of Post-War Credits on age grounds. Most of the ex-Service men of the 1914–18 war therefore have already become entitled to claim. My 771 right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer explained in answers to questions in another place on Tuesday of this week that he was closely examining the question of extending the arrangements for repaying Post-War Credits to include the permanently injured and the incurably sick, but that he was not yet ready to announce any decision. He will no doubt take note of the noble Viscount's interest in those members of the class to which he has referred who are not yet old enough to claim.
§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHMy Lords, I am obliged to the noble Earl. Would the noble Earl bring to the attention of his right honourable friend the sort of cases I have in mind? I am thinking of those who may have been in the last part of the 1914–18 war, or others who did not go at all but who were earning good money from then on, but were then taken very sick and have since struggled back to work and are working on a very much lower income. They would like to be able to meet the commitments which have arisen in consequence of their illness, and that would be possible by a more urgent payment of their Post-War Credits.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, as your Lordships know, it is very difficult to get a fair objective test of hardship in matters of this kind. For administrative reasons, it is necessary to select categories which can be readily and precisely defined. But I will certainly represent to my right honourable friend, who mentioned last Tuesday that he was considering the whole subject sympathetically, what the noble Viscount the Leader of the Opposition has said.