§ 44. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will alter the appropriate regulations so as to cause the special Forces rate to apply to the wives of Service men serving overseas.
§ Mr. KirkNo. The concessionary postal rates for the Forces are intended to provide a cheap means of communication between the Service man 51W and his family. If the Service man's wife is with her husband overseas there is no case for the concessionary rates being applied to mail sent by or addressed to his wife.
The Service man's wife in the United Kingdom, whose husband is overseas, already enjoys a concession. She can use the Forces Air Letter at the cost of 3d., and can send ordinary letters of normal weight by air mail for 3d. within Europe and for 6d. elsewhere.
The present concessions cost the taxpayer about £800,000 a year, and I do not think that we should be justified in adding to this sum by extending the concessions.