§ Sir P. Hurdasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that the remittances allowed for overseas evacuees are insufficient to meet out-of-pocket expenses incurred by their Canadian and American hosts; and whether, in view of the change in the currency situation since the passage of the Lease-Lend Act, he will extend the concessions on a reasonably generous scale, and also have regard to the expenses incurred by overseas hosts up to the end of 1941?
251W
§ Sir K. WoodI would remind my hon. Friend that the people concerned left this country with an undertaking that they would be maintained by friends or relatives abroad, and in the great majority of cases, an undertaking was signed not to ask for any remittances to be made for their benefit. The concession which I announced was intended, therefore, not to provide for maintenance but only to diminish some of the calls made on the hosts who so generously offered hospitality, by allowing moderate sums towards out-of-pocket expenses. I am, therefore, not prepared to increase the scale of remittances or to make them retrospective.