HL Deb 18 April 1962 vol 239 cc833-6

2.27 p.m.

LORD KILLEARN

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government—

  1. (1) How much of the £27½ million received from Egypt has been distributed by the Foreign Claims Commission; and how much therefore still remains;
  2. (2) How much has been paid to claimants whose property has been
    1. (a) nationalised
    2. (b) sequestrated
    respectively; and
  3. (3) How much tax has been levied up to date on this Fund.]

THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)

My Lords, up to March 31, 1962, the Foreign Compensation Commission had distributed £11,641,367 7s. 8d. Of this sum, £10,754,399 14s. 0d. was in respect of 528 claims for property which had been Egyptianised, and £886,967 13s. 8d. was in respect of 835 claims for sequestration and other losses. £15,858,632 12s. 4d. of the £27½ million received from the United Arab Republic therefore still remained to be distributed. Up to March 31 of this year £959,619 had been paid as income tax.

LORD KILLEARN

My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Marquess for his full, informative and very helpful reply. It will take a little digesting. May I ask him one supplementary? Are the Government mindful of the fact that these unfortunate claimants were thrown out of Egypt neck and crop over five years ago, and would he not agree that it is high time that these claims were equitably settled?

TILE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, as the noble Lord is well aware, Her Majesty's Government are doing everything in their power to ensure that these payments are made as quickly as possible. I can give the noble Lord my absolute assurance that we are very much exercised over this matter and doing everything we can to expedite it.

LORD KILLEARN

I should like to thank the noble Marquess for that assurance and I hope the pressure will continue to be exercised.

LORD HENDERSON

My Lords, may I press the point which the noble Lord has raised? These people have been waiting at least five years now, and I gather from the noble Marquess's reply that only about half has been distributed. How many more years have to pass before this matteer is settled? These people are waiting. I do not think they can be expected to be satisfied with an assurance that Her Majesty's Government are doing all they can to speed up matters. Five years is a long time. If they have to wait another five years, it will have been ten years before they get satisfaction.

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, this matter was very closely debated, as your Lordships remember, on December 20 last. I think that perhaps in answer to the noble Lord I should point out that of the 5,328 applications received to date 2,587 remain unformulated, and assessment of many formulated ones is being held up by lack of evidence. I think the noble Lord is aware that there is a judicial procedure to be gone through, and it is not in consonance with British practice for this judicial procedure not to be thorough and absolutely complete. That is one of the difficulties we are up against.

LORD HENDERSON

My Lords, may I ask the noble Marquess this? I think there is a Committee handling these things. Are they giving all assistance to claimants to enable them to speed up their applications on the basis that the noble Marquess has just mentioned?

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

My Lords, we have in fact increased the number of Commissioners and we have also sent out two special representatives to Egypt; and I think this is helping. Of course, as the noble Lord is well aware, there is the bottle-neck in Egypt itself.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, the noble Marquess gave us the figures of those claims that had been formulated and of those that had not. If I took down his figures aright, 1,300 claims have been dealt with and satisfied and 2,600 have been made and formulated or substantiated; so now only 50 per cent. of the live claims have been dealt with. Can Her Majesty's Government give us hope of anything better?

LORD BALFOUR OF INCHRYE

My Lords, can the Minister give us any hope that the Egyptian Government's conduct is becoming more resilient and helpful as compared with its conduct in the past?

THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE

Yes, my Lords, I can give a rather more optimistic report. As some of your Lordships are already aware, the Egyptian Minister for Economy and Finance, Dr. Kaissuni, came to this country last month; my right honourable friend the Lord Privy Seal had a long, detailed and frank discussion with him about outstanding difficulties arising out of the 1959 Financial Agreement, and subsequently a memorandum was handed to Dr. Kaissuni giving our principal points of complaint. I am happy to be able to inform your Lordships that Dr. Kaissuni was most sympathetic and cooperative. He has, in fact, appointed a new Sequestrator General, and I have every reason to hope that, from the Egyptian end, we may have rather more favourable and rapid results than we have had before.

THE EARL OF LUCAN

My Lords, could the noble Marquess answer the question I asked him—namely, whether it is a fact that only 50 per cent. of the formulated claims have so far been dealt with?

THE MARQUESS or LANSDOWNE

I do not think that the noble Earl's question is quite so simple as it appears. I should like to look into it a little more rather than to give a snap reply. As the noble Earl is well aware, this is a complicated subject, and I should like to have a further look at that question before giving an answer.