§ Section thirty-two of The Income Tax Act, 1918, shall read as if the following Subsection were inserted after the first Subsection thereof:—
§ Persons uninsurable by reason of wounds or ill-health.
§ Any person who, by reason of ill-health or wounds received on active service, is uninsurable, except at an abnormal premium, with any insurance company legally established in the United Kingdom shall be entitled to a deduction of a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds on producing proof that the said sum has been invested in a Government security of this country.—[Colonel Lambert Ward.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
Colonel LAMBERT WARDI beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."
As every Member of the Committee is aware, a man is entitled to deduct from his Income Tax assessment the amount which he pays as life insurance premium. A very large number of men who served at the front and who were wounded or suffered some disability through their service are to all intents and purposes uninsured. There came before my notice a short time ago the case of a man who was badly hit in his right arm, which was partially disabled, and a leading life insurance company had refused to take him. If that is the case with a man who is only damaged in the arm, how much more serious would it be for a man who, say, was shot through the lung, or had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his skull or near the base of his spine? He would not be taken as a risk by any insurance company in the country. Not only is a man like that handicapped through not being able to insure, but he is actually penalised through having to pay more Income Tax than the man who did not go to the front and is consequently considered a first-class life. We all agree that the allowance in respect of the amount paid as insurance premium is sound. A man is thereby making provision, should he die, for his wife and children, who otherwise might easily become chargeable on the finances of the country. The object of this Clause is to give the same privileges to a man who has been more or less seriously injured or disabled in the service of his country. Not only is the wounded man penalised by being unable to insure, but he is actu- 2843 ally fined up to £30 a year through being unable to deduct from his Income Tax assessment the amount which his more fortunate fellow citizen pays in his life insurance premium. This Clause cannot cost the Treasury a very large sum. The cost will probably be quite insignificant. The objection has been advanced that it is rather loosely worded and might include men whose ill-health is due to other causes than service to the Crown. I should have no objection to including those, because surely ill-health is handicap enough to a man through life without having, in addition, to be penalised by having to pay taxes in excess of what a healthy full-blooded citizen has to pay. It is handicap enough to go through life with a weak heart, indifferent lungs or bad digestion without being fined additionally in this way.
§ Mr. MURCHISONI wish to support the Clause. The principle has already been accepted in connection with workmen's compensation and disabled soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI know it must be the case. I feel it myself that there is widespread sympathy in the House for an object of this kind, but I beg the Committee to consider whether this is really a proper way of giving expression to their sympathy or to the obligation which the country owes to those who have been injured in its service. We recognise this obligation by the payment to them of pensions as such reparation as we can offer to men who have been incapacitated either in limb or in health in the service of their country, and I think that is a better way to express our sympathy than to introduce a provision of this kind, which works very unevenly and, I think, would be liable to great abuse. I will not dwell upon the fact that a man might buy £100 of stock merely for the purpose of getting this exemption, and sell it the next day. More than that, have my hon. Friends considered that it surely would work very differently in different cases? There are many men who could not fulfil this provision at all. A. and B. have both served in the War, have both received the same injury, and are both similarly incapacitated. A. has no money except the pension which the State allows him, and can derive no benefit from this provision, 2844 B. has investments which enable him, without difficulty, to put £100 into Government stock, and at once gets the exemption. So that your assistance would be determined not by the necessities of the person, but by his capacity to make the investment which you invite him to make. I do not think that would be satisfactory. I do not think you can deal with it on the analogy of encouraging insurance. The right way in which to recognise their services and the injury which they have suffered is by the provisions we have already made.
§ Sir J. BUTCHERThere are cases which the right hon. Gentleman ought to try to meet. Take the case of a man who insured before the war. The practice of the Insurance Companies was in most cases to keep his insurance on and pay the full amount of the insured if he was killed in the war; but there were cases where a man insured during the war and lie only got a limited amount if he was killed. If he came back after the war and said to the Insurance Company: "I am now good health. Place me in the same position that I should have been in if I had insured before the war, and give me the full benefit of my insurance," the Company would say, in many cases: "You are not insurable now, owing to your service. You cannot be insured to the full amount as before." Therefore, his position would be that, owing to his service, he has failed to be able to renew his insurance which he had made during the war. That is a clear case of hardship and the Chancellor of the Exchequer ought to make provision for a case of that sort, where, before he was injured, he did show his desire to insure but had not been able to get the full benefit of it. There is the further case of the man who comes home from the war and he has a small income, out of which he is desirous of insuring his life, but he cannot do it owing to his circumstances. Is it beyond the power of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to devise some means of making provision for such a case as that? I refer specially to cases of people with limited means. It would not be reasonable to say to a man of large means: "We will make you a deduction although you have your pension, because your life has been so long insured." Could not the right hon. Gentleman by the Report Stage devise some means of meeting the 2845 case of the poor class of man who wants to insure but finds he cannot do it?
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYThe right hon. Gentleman has not met the case. Because "B" is not able to oppose insurance I do not see why "A" should be penalised. The right hon. Gentleman has not met the case of the two brothers, one of whom was probably exempted for business reasons and remained at home and was able to insure himself and his wife and family against penury, and the other went to the front and returned shattered in health and is now uninsurable and is penalised. Because we are legislating for the men who are not absolutely on the poverty line something ought to be done to meet the undeniably hard cases. There are more of these cases than would appear. There are a number of men who have been assessed for small pensions and who are not seriously injured, but they are rapidly developing serious symptoms owing to gas poisoning. They have not got to the bottom of the trouble due to the use of chemicals in the War. There are all sorts of lung troubles developing and
| Division No. 225.] | AYES. | [4.40 P m. |
| Balfour, George (Hampstead) | Cowan, Sir H. (Aberdeen and Kinc.) | Raw, Lieutenant-Colonel N. |
| Benn, Sir A. S. (Plymouth, Drake) | Curzon, Commander Viscount | Remer, J. R. |
| Benn, Captain Wedgwood (Leith) | Foxcroft, Captain Charles Talbot | Rose, Frank H. |
| Bowerman, Rt. Hon. Charles W. | Galbraith, Samuel | Spencer, George A. |
| Bowyer, Captain G. E. W. | Glanville, Harold James | Sprot, Colonel Sir Alexander |
| Brace, Rt. Hon. William | Goff, Sir R. Park | Stewart, Gershom |
| Breese, Major Charles E. | Gretton, Colonel John | Sugden, W. H. |
| Brown, James (Ayr and Bute) | Kenworthy, Lieut.-Commander J. M. | Thorne, G. R.(Wolverhampton, E.) |
| Burn, Col. C. R. (Devon, Torquay) | Lloyd-Greame, Major Sir P. | Wignall, James |
| Butcher, Sir John George | Lorden, John William | Williams, Aneurin (Durham, Consett) |
| Campion, Lieut.-Colonel W. R. | Moore, Major-General Sir Newton J. | Wilson, W. Tyson (Westhoughton) |
| Cautley, Henry S. | Mosley, Oswald | Yate, Colonel Charles Edward |
| Clay, Lieut.-Colonel H. H. Spender | O'Grady, Captain James | Young, Sir Frederick W. (Swindon) |
| Clynes, Rt. Hon. J. R. | Palmer, Charles Frederick (Wrekin) | |
| Cohen, Major J. Brunel | Pownall, Lieut.-Colonel Assheton | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Cowan, D. M. (Scottish Universities) | Raffan, Peter Wilson | Colonel L. Ward and Mr. Murchison. |
| NOES. | ||
| Adair, Rear-Admiral Thomas B. S. | Chamberlain, Rt. Hn. J. A.(Birm.,W.) | Gilbert, James Daniel |
| Adkins, Sir W. Ryland D. | Coates, Major Sir Edward F. | Gilmour, Lieut.-Colonel John |
| Amery, Lieut.-Col. Leopold C. M. S. | Coats, Sir Stuart | Glyn, Major Ralph |
| Archer-Shee, Lieut.-Colonel Martin | Cobb, Sir Cyril | Green, Joseph F. (Leicester, W.) |
| Atkey, A. R. | Colvin, Brig.-General Richard Beale | Greenwood, William (Stockport) |
| Baird, Sir John Lawrence | Davies, Thomas (Cirencester) | Greig, Colonel James William |
| Barnston, Major Harry | Davison, Sir W. H. (Kensington, S.) | Hacking, Captain Douglas H. |
| Bellairs, Commander Carlyon W. | Dawes, James Arthur | Harmsworth, C. B. (Bedford, Luton) |
| Benn, Capt. Sir I. H., Bart.(Gr'nw'h) | Duncannon, Viscount | Haslam, Lewis |
| Birchall, Major J. Dearman | Edgar, Clifford B. | Hayday, Arthur |
| Blades, Capt. Sir George Rowland | Edwards, Major J. (Aberavon) | Henderson, Major V. L. (Tradeston) |
| Blair, Reginald | Edwards, John H. (Glam., Neath) | Hewart, Rt. Hon. Sir Gordon |
| Blake, Sir Francis Douglas | Elliot, Capt. Walter E. (Lanark) | Hinds, John |
| Boscawen, Rt. Hon. Sir A. Griffith- | Elveden, Viscount | Hoare, Lieut.-Colonel Sir S. J. G. |
| Brassey, Major H. L. C. | Eyres-Monsell, Commander B. M. | Hopkins, John W. W. |
| Bridgeman, William Clive | Falle, Major Sir Bertram G. | Horne, Sir R. S.(Glasgow, Hillhead) |
| Briggs, Harold | Fell, Sir Arthur | Hunter, General Sir A. (Lancaster) |
| Bruton, Sir James | Flannery, Sir James Fortescue | Hurst, Lieut.-Colonel Gerald B. |
| Buchanan, Lieut.-Colonel A. L. H. | Fraser, Major Sir Keith | Jackson, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. F. S. |
| Bull, Rt. Hon. Sir William James | Ganzoni, Captain Francis John C. | James, Lieut.-Colonel Hon. Cuthbert |
| Carter, W. (Nottingham, Mansfield) | Gibbs, Colonel George Abraham | Jodrell, Neville Paul |
§ these men will have great difficulty in insuring themselves. The Chancellor of the Exchequer tells us that the proper way to go about it is to increase the pensions. Some of us have said that for a long time. Meantime, we want to do something in the Finance Act to meet the special cases. If the Government cannot meet us here, the least they can do is to introduce some scheme of Government insurance for these men who cannot get insurance in the ordinary commercial companies.
Colonel WARDI am very sorry that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is unable to meet us in this respect. I am only asking that where there are two men, each with say, £1,000 a year, one of whom has been wounded while the other stayed at home, the man who has been wounded should pay the same Income Tax as the man who stayed at home. In the circumstances I feel it my duty to divide the Committee.
§ Question put, "That the Clause be read a Second time."
§ Committee divided: Ayes, 45; The Noes, 141.
2847| Johnstone, J. (Renfrew, E.) | Morrison, Hugh | Thomson, Sir W. Mitchell- (Maryhill) |
| Jones, Sir Evan (Pembroke) | Morrison-Bell, Major A. C. | Thorpe, Captain John Henry |
| Jones, J. T. (Carmarthen, Lianelly) | Nicholson, William G. (Petersfield) | Townley, Maximilian G. |
| Jones, William Kennedy (Hornsey) | Palmer, Major Godfrey Mark | Wallace, J. |
| Kellaway, Rt. Hon. Fredk. George | Perkins, Walter Frank | Walters, Sir John Tudor |
| Kinloch-Cooke, Sir Clement | Philipps. Sir Owen C. (Chester, City) | Waring, Major Walter |
| Law, Rt. Hon. A. B. (Glasgow, C.) | Pilditch, Sir Philip | Warren, Lieut.-Col. Sir Alfred H. |
| Locker-Lampson, Com. O. (H'tingd'n) | Pollock, Sir Ernest M. | Waterson, A. E. |
| Lort-Williams, J. | Purchase, H. G. | Watson, Captain John Bertrand |
| Loseby, Captain C. E. | Raeburn, Sir William H. | Whitla, Sir William |
| Lyle, C. E. Leonard | Rees, Sir J. D. (Nottingham, East) | Wild, Sir Ernest Edward |
| M'Curdy, Rt. Hon. C. A. | Reid, D. D. | Williams, Lt.-Com. C. (Tavistock) |
| M'Donald, Dr. Bouverie F. P. | Richardson, Alexander (Gravesend) | Williamson, Rt. Hon. Sir Archibald |
| Macdonald, Rt. Hon. John Murray | Samuel, A. M. (Surrey, Farnham) | Willoughby, Lieut.-Col. Hon. Claud |
| Mackinder, Sir H. J. (Camlachie) | Samuel, Rt. Hon. Sir H. (Norwood) | Wills, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Gilbert |
| McLaren, Hon. H. D. (Leicester) | Sanders, Colonel Sir Robert A. | Wilson, Daniel M. (Down, West) |
| McLaren, Robert (Lanark, Northern) | Seddon, J. A. | Wilson, Colonel Leslie O. (Reading) |
| Macleod, J. Mackintosh | Shortt, Rt. Hon. E. (N'castle-on-T.) | Wilson, Lt.-Col. Sir M. (Bethnal Gn) |
| Macmaster, Donald | Smithers, Sir Alfred W. | Wilson-Fox, Henry |
| Macnamara, Rt. Hon. Dr. T. J. | Stanley, Major H. G. (Preston) | Winterton, Major Earl |
| McNeill, Ronald (Kent, Canterbury) | Stevens, Marshall | Wood, Sir J. (Stalybridge & Hyde) |
| Macquisten, F. A. | Sturrock, J. Leng | Worsfold, Dr. T. Cato |
| Mallaby-Deeley, Harry | Sutherland, Sir William | Young, Lieut.-Com. E. H.(Norwich) |
| Malone, Major P. B. (Tottenham, S.) | Talbot, G. A. (Hemel Hempstead) | |
| Marks, Sir George Croydon | Taylor, J. | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.— |
| Mitchell, William Lane | Terrell, George (Wilts, Chippenham) | Lord E. Talbot and Mr. Dudley Ward. |
| Molson, Major John Elsdale | Thomson, F. C. (Aberdeen, South) |