Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have had with Royal Commonwealth Ex-Service League on the gratuity payments made to African soldiers made at the end of the Second World War; and whether his Department has information on the number of veterans who were subject to the differential pay.

Neither I, nor my officials, have had conversations with the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Service League on the gratuity payments made to African soldiers at the end of the Second World War. Following independence, the governments of ex-British colonies usually assumed responsibility for service records relating to their armed forces. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is working closely with colleagues across government to gather information on this issue.