§ Brigadier-General MAKINSasked the Minister of Pensions how many applications have been made by widows of ex-service men in respect of the deaths of their husbands from tuberculosis which is not accepted by the Ministry as duo to, or aggravated by, war service; whether he is aware that in these cases a large number of widows and young children are left without any maintenance save at the expense of the Poor Law; and whether there is any fund at all by which they can benefit to avoid the stigma of such relief?
Mr. MUIRI regret that I am not in a position to give the information asked for in the first part of the question, as the records of claims by widows are not tabulated according to the diseases from which their husbands may have died In every case where the widow's claim under the pensions warrant is rejected, there is a right of appeal to the independent Appeal Tribunal, and this right is generally exercised. My right hon. Friend has no power, under the Royal Warrants, to grant a pension to a widow whose husband's death has been found, after full investigation, not to have resulted from his war service.