§ LORD BROCKWAYMy 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 how far pensions are now paid to ex-public servants of the British Administration in Southern Yemen prior to independence; and whether this includes payment to ex-members of the security forces in Aden and the Protectorate.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIE)My Lords, Her Majesty's Government do not pay pensions to ex-public servants of the former Aden and South Arabian Administrations. However, since the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen did not accept in full their responsibility for public service pensions, Her Majesty's Government pay ex gratia loan advances in lieu of pensions to certain categories of former public servants of the Aden and South Arabian Administrations prior to independence. These include the civil police.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, while thanking the noble Baroness, may I ask is it not the case that most of these ex gratia payments are paid to expatriates, and in view of the fact that members of the security forces both in Aden and in the Protectorate had to face unpopularity and danger in the period before independence, is there not a particular obligation that we should do justice to them?
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIEMy Lords, payments are made not only to expatriate pensionable persons but also to indigenous pensionable public servants. So far as the Armed Forces are concerned, I understand that their conditions of service were different from those applying to other public servants.
§ LORD BROCKWAYMy Lords, may I ask, for information, how far in the cases of other ex-colonial territories where agreements have been reached payments have been made to public servants who were in the security forces?
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIEMy Lords, I understand that it was not possible to conclude a satisfactory public servant agreement with the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which I think, in answer to the noble Lord's question, is the only territory.
§ LORD SHACKLETONMy Lords, would the noble Baroness appreciate that we as a country have a great moral obligation in this matter. On the whole, the British record in regard to payment of those who, sometimes at great risk, served what they conceived to the their duty to the Crown and have sometimes been left destitute is not good. I do not think any Government has a good record on this matter.
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIEMy Lords, I carefully studied the noble Lord's reply on this matter when the first decision was made in 1970. I think we do in fact cover all former pensionable civil servants, including the civil police, and I understand that the Armed Forces are in fact paid by the South Yemen Government.
THE EARL OF SELKIRKMy Lords, can the noble Baroness say what the term "ex gratia" means? Does it mean that future payments cannot be assured and that payments are paid only from year to year.
§ BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIEMy Lords, it means in fact that were the South Yemen Government to decide to pay these pensions, theoretically we could ask that these particular payments be repaid. But it is very unlikely that this would ever happen.