§ Q7. Mr. Hamlingasked the Prime Minister what representations have been made to him on proposals to abolish the comprehensive principle in social security provisions as recommended in the Beveridge Report and embodied in the social insurance schemes enacted since the war; and what replies he has sent.
§ The Prime MinisterNone, Sir, outside the lunatic fringe of my correspondence.
§ Mr. HamlingWill my right hon. Friend resist all attempts to introduce two systems in social welfare, a lavish one for the wealthy and minimal standards for the poor?
§ The Prime MinisterOur position has been made clear by Ministers on a number of occasions. While all of us want to encourage self-help schemes, to suggest that the country's social security can be safeguarded on the basis of occupational schemes and by an introduction of the means test for the rest is completely abhorrent to what we stand for.