§ 39. Mr. Houghtonasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what decision he has reached on the recommendations of the National Insurance Advisory Committee in their recent 1002 Report, Command Paper No. 1384, on certain widows' benefits.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe Government are considering this recommendation and I have no statement to make about it at present.
§ Mr. HoughtonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this matter has been hanging around now for some time? I pressed it upon him in 1959 in Committee on the National Insurance Bill. He then promised to refer it to the National Insurance Advisory Committee. The Committee, owing to other preoccupations, took a very long time to make its Report. It has now made recommendations which are not revolutionary. The Minister should have arrived at a decision by now.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterAs the hon. Gentleman knows, I laid the Report only at the beginning of last month. If he has studied it, he will appreciate that the complexity of the subject accounts for the Advisory Committee taking a little time which, I think, entitles me to do the same.
§ Mr. HoughtonIs the Minister aware that he has a reputation for being a slick operator?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI am surprised that the hon. Gentleman, who has a reputation for courtesy, should decide to adopt phraseology which one associates more with some of his hon. Friends.