§ Sir P. Hannonasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will give sympathetic consideration to the appeal made by the Post Office pensioners for a bonus or allowance to meet the increased cost of living; and if special attention can be given to the depressed position of many old and infirm retired Post Office pensioners now existing on the border-line of destitution?
§ Captain CrookshankIt was stated by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his reply of 6th August, 1940, to my hon. Friend the Member for the Evesham Division (Mr. De la Bère) that it would not be possible to deal with Post Office pensioners apart from other Civil Service pensioners, and that the Government could not undertake to introduce legislation for the purpose of increasing the pensions of retired civil servants. The hon. Member for Romford (Mr. Parker) and the hon. Member for the Shipley Division (Mr. Creech Jones) were referred to this reply on the 9th April last and the 5th August last respectively. My right hon. Friend has since given further consideration to this question as the result of representations made by the staff side of the National Whitley Council, and has informed them that His Majesty's Government were unable to depart from their previous decision.