Mr Alan McKibbin: asked the Postmaster-General whether his intention has been called to the unfair incidence of the recent increases in the quarterly telephone rentals on private residences, in that they amount to 50 per cent. for an exclusive and 66⅔ per cent. for a shared line; and what action he proposes to take to remedy the grievance.
Mr Alan McKibbin: Will my right hon. Friend agree that a public-spirited subscriber who helps the Post Office by sharing his line with a friend has a genuine grievance at having to pay a higher percentage rate than a person who does not share a line? While it is admitted that a subscriber pays less for a shared line, will my right hon. Friend bear in mind, in view of the differential, that if he deducted 10s....
Mr Alan McKibbin: I wish to call attention to the benefit to the Army of a high standard of permanent accommodation and to urge the Government to provide more and better barracks, married quarters and military hospitals in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I am starting with Northern Ireland, first, because I know more about the accommodation there, and, secondly, because I know of the importance of...
Mr Alan McKibbin: I am not attempting to move it.
Mr Alan McKibbin: General Eisenhower, in a speech in Belfast, said: Without Northern Ireland, I do not see how the American Forces could have concentrated to begin the invasion of Europe. If Ulster had not been a definite co-operative part of the British Empire and had not been available for our use, I do not see how the build-up could have been carried out in England. My third reason is because I read in...
Mr Alan McKibbin: I thank the hon. Member. If such a camp is necessary, it should be built in a more accessible spot. Good accommodation for the families of soldiers is a necessity. An unhappy wife makes an unhappy soldier and an unhappy soldier is less likely to be useful to his country than a happy one. Improvement in married quarters should be a first priority, and this applies not only to Northern Ireland...
Mr Alan McKibbin: The Secretary of State for War agreed with my hon. and gallant Friend and replied that a new military hospital was being built at Lisburn. I do not know how far the plans for this hospital have advanced, but I hope that in the interests of the health of the troops it will not be long delayed. I have little experience of barracks in this country since the 1914–18 war, except at Altcar, to...
Mr Alan McKibbin: Does my right hon. and gallant Friend not consider that if my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Hyde) and those associated with him showed some sympathy with the relatives of the murdered people instead of with the murderers, it would be more in keeping with their alleged humanitarian ideas?
Mr Alan McKibbin: asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether, in the light of the Report of the National Insurance Advisory Committee, he will take steps to meet the needs of a class of pensioner in respect of whom no recommendation is made, namely, the 10s. widows.
Mr Alan McKibbin: On 14th November, in answer to a question of mine, my right hon. Friend's predecessor said: I hope that when the Report appears the difficulties will be fully resolved."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 14th November, 1955; Vol. 546, c. 22.] In these circumstances, will my right hon. Friend see that something is done immediately so that his Lordship, who is now in another place, will not be too...
Mr Alan McKibbin: asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider, when preparing his Budget, permitting limbless ex-Service men aged 55 years and over, who are in receipt of a disability pension of 50 per cent. upwards and who do not qualify for free motor cars, to buy motor cars free of Purchase Tax to enable them to continue going to and from their employment, subject to safeguard as to the sale...
Mr Alan McKibbin: Would my right hon. Friend bear in mind that men whose lower limbs have been amputated find the manipulation of artificial limbs more irritating as they get older? Is he aware that the average age of victims of the 1914–18 War will be 65 when the Budget is introduced?
Mr Alan McKibbin: I beg to give notice that, on going into Committee of Supply on the Army Estimates, I shall call attention to the lack of barracks, married quarters and military hospital accommodation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and move a Resolution.
Mr Alan McKibbin: asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware that the latest leaflets available in banks and post offices about National Savings Certificates are dated November, 1954; and, in view of the need for stimulating National Savings, he will see that up-to-date leaflets giving information about the additional number of units of the current ninth issue which may now be held, will be made available as...
Mr Alan McKibbin: I am delighted that a new amendment slip has been issued since I put down my Question on 6th December; but will my right hon. Friend call the attention of the new Chancellor of the Exchequer to the fact that the current issue of National Savings Certificates was first available on 1st February, 1951, when the Bank Rate was 2 per cent., and that the Government should now make a further issue...
Mr Alan McKibbin: I wish to make an appeal on behalf of limbless ex-Service men of 55 years of age and over who are living on a 50 per cent. disability pension. The appeal I make is that they should be permitted to have motor cars free of Purchase Tax to enable them to get to and from their work, subject, of course, to safeguards concerning the sale and disposal of such motor cars if and when their owners have...
Mr Alan McKibbin: On a point of disorder—
Mr Alan McKibbin: The men about whom I was speaking do not qualify for the cars which are rightly supplied free by the Government to limbless ex-Service men who are disabled in the highest degree. I am not asking for charity for these men. I am merely asking for this concession because they have had the courage and integrity to overcome their disability and also have the ability to continue in work, which...
Mr Alan McKibbin: asked the Secretary of State for War if he is aware that holders of the Military Medal won in the 1939–45 War are granted a gratuity of £20 on discharge, or an extra 6d. a day on their pension, but that no monetary benefit is attached to the Military Medal won by men in the 1914–18 War; and whether he will take steps to remedy the anomaly.
Mr Alan McKibbin: Does my right hon. Friend not consider that the disparity of treatment between men who fought in different wars is unfair to pensioners of the 1914–18 War, of whom only a comparatively small number now survive? Will he not reconsider this matter?
