§ 3. Mr. K. Robinsonasked the Postmaster-General if he will give consideration to the possibility of reducing telephone rental charges for old people who live alone.
§ Mr. K. ThompsonThis suggestion has been considered sympathetically on various occasions, but singling out this group specially from among numbers similarly worthy and charging less than the standard prices for their telephone service could not be justified. As my right hon. Friend has said, the resulting short-fall in our revenue would have to be made good by higher charges to our other customers.
§ Mr. RobinsonDoes not the Assistant Postmaster-General appreciate that to very many of these old people living alone the telephone is the only communication with the outside world, especially to those who find it difficult to get out and about? Does not the hon. Gentleman also appreciate that the cost of this concession would not be very large and that for these people the present rentals are prohibitive in many cases? Will he 178 not give further consideration to the matter?
§ Mr. ThompsonI do not dissent from a good deal of what the hon. Gentleman says. Unfortunately, what he says applies to other groups of people who suffer from age or infirmity of one kind or another, and the problem of drawing the line between the deserving and the not so deserving is a very difficult one indeed.