HC Deb 20 March 1951 vol 485 cc2300-1
56. Captain Ryder

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the event of a man dying before reaching 65 years of age, whether his regulations permit the postwar credits inherited by his widow to be made payable at such time as they would have been paid to her husband had he lived.

Mr. Gaitskell

No, Sir. In these circumstances, the post-war credit is payable to the widow when she reaches the age of 60.

Captain Ryder

Would it not be possible to make this much-needed concession? How much would it cost?

Mr. Gaitskell

The hon. and gallant Member will not expect me to anticipate my Budget statement.

Mr. Joynson-Hicks

Is the Chancellor aware that the inability to encash postwar credits is causing very great annoyance and aggravation to widows, who feel that they are being swindled?

Sir W. Smithers

If a private individual refused to pay his debts, he would find himself in the Old Bailey.