Captain FABERasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state whether, in the case of an agricultural labourer who has signed a yearly agreement as to wages and obtains cottage and Michaelmas money, that agreement will be binding under the National Insurance Act, or whether it can be broken if the employer deducts the tax from the wages?
§ Mr. CHIOZZA MONEYMay I draw your attention, Sir, to the fact that the word "tax" is used in the question, and that no such tax has been levied by this House, and ask whether you think it right that the Order Paper of the House should be used for the introduction of such a term?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIt is a trivial matter.
§ Mr. MASTERMANI am advised that while the National Insurance Act authorises the employer to deduct the workman's part of the contribution from any wages that may have been specified in such a contract, it does not in any way affect the validity of the contract. The Act gives no power to the employer to deduct his own part of the contribution from wages, and, indeed, explicitly prohibits him from so doing.