HC Deb 07 July 1930 vol 241 cc90-1

The relief granted under sub-section (1) of section nineteen of the Finance Act, 1920, shall extend to care of a widowed mother who resides with the claimant and is wholly dependent upon him for support.—[Sir N. Stewart Sandman.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Sir NAIRNE STEWART SANDEMAN

I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."

I am certain that the whole Committee must feel that this case is a very just one for the making of some concession. If a man has a housekeeper, he gets a rebate of only £45 per annum, while if he has a widowed mother he gets, I understand, a rebate of only £25.

Mr. P. SNOWDEN

In the ease of a housekeeper he now gets £60.

Sir N. STEWART SANDEMAN

He gets £60 if he has a housekeeper, and only £25 for his widowed mother. Surely, the man with a widowed mother should be in no worse position than the man who has a housekeeper. I do not think that there is any argument on the other side. Such a man may have given up the chance of being married in order to take charge of his widowed mother, and I cannot see why the man who does not want to get married but employs a housekeeper should get a rebate of £60, while the man who is really doing his duty by his widowed mother only gets £25. I feel certain that this concession would not cost very much, and I hope that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be able to see his way to grant this request from one who hardly ever bothers him at all.

Mr. P. SNOWDEN

This is another of those Amendments which naturally excite sympathy. It is an Amendment which I have myself, I believe, supported in the Division Lobby when I sat on the other side of the House; but circumstances alter Cases, and I think that that charge of inconsistency could be levelled against every Member of the House who has sat under different party Governments. As the hon. Member has said, a very substantial allowance is now given to a widower whose widowed mother looks after his children in the capacity of a housekeeper, but that allowance cannot be given twice over. In the case which the hon. Member has in mind, there would be an allowance of £25 a year as a dependant's allowance. I would point out that under the hon. Member's proposal the allowance would not be given to a father who was dependent upon a son, and the fact that the hon. Member has not extended his proposal to a father exposes the difficulty that exists in dealing with a matter like this, because quite as strong a case might be put forward for a relief of £60 a year for, say, an invalid's sister or an incapacitated brother, as for the support of a widowed mother. As the Committee will see, the whole question bristles with difficulties, and one concession inevitably leads to a demand for further concessions. In my present financial difficulties, there is one conclusive reason why, with all the sympathy in the world, I am unable to accept the hon. Member's proposal, and that is that it is estimated that it would cost more than £500,000 a year. For the present, therefore, I am afraid the hon. Member will have to be satisfied with my sympathy, and my hope that, as I said in connection with another Amendment, in future years we may be able to consider the proposal under happier financial conditions.

Question, "That the Clause be read a Second time," put, and negatived.