§ 32. Mr. TOUCHEasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he has seen a letter sent to the hon. Member for North Islington by Mrs. Amelia Herbert, a charwoman, of Lymington Avenue, Wood Green, N., who states that she has earned just enough, week by week, to keep herself and bring 2666 up her two children without being dependent on anyone; that she has been employed by one family for eleven years, by another for nine years, and another for four years; that, owing to the National Insurance Act, two of her employers have discharged her, and another is thinking of doing so; and that the loss of employment means two and a-half days' loss of pay each week; is he aware that this case is typical of many others where respectable and hard-working persons are suffering hardship and distress on account of the Act; and can he point to any remedy or practical means of relieving it?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe hon. Gentleman has sent me the letter referred to. I have not been able to investigate the facts. Cases of disturbance unfortunately accompany the bringing into operation of all new social legislation. Such disturbance may be due to the operation of an Act or (more frequently) to misunderstanding or misrepresentation concerning its operation. I have no reason to believe that the demand for the work of charwomen will be in any way reduced owing to national insurance.