39. Mrs. Slaterasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance if he will estimate by how much the total aggregate payments to all National Insurance beneficiaries in the first nine months of this year would have to be increased to restore to that sum the value lost by the depreciation of the £ sterling since the announcement of the last increases in benefits.
§ Mrs. ThatcherAbout £55 million.
Mrs. SlaterDoes not this show how very necessary it is to review the basic pensions and the benefits which are paid in order to give these people the real value which they ought to be having? 30 How long are we going to have the same old story about the Tory Party having done better than the Labour Party? Is it not about time these people had justice instead of that story?
§ Mrs. ThatcherOn the last occasion when the National Insurance benefits were increased, they were raised by 15 per cent. for the single rate and 16 per cent. for the married rate. Since then the cost of living has changed by about 5.1 per cent.