§ 10 pm
§ Mr. Norman Hogg (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)I wish to present a petition organised by the Cumbernauld and district campaign against benefit cuts, which obtained 9,500 signatures in opposition to the Social Security Bill. The Bill is based on the Government's White Paper on the reform of social security. The first signatory to this massive petition is the provost of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, district provost James Pollock, JP. The signatures in the petition represent 21 per cent. of the electorate in my constituency and therefore reflect the weight of public opinion against the Government's objectives.
The Social Security Bill does not reform social security. It is merely a means of making the poor even poorer and the needy more needy. The Bill is bad news for mothers, for families with children and for those with occupational pensions. It holds nothing for every unemployed householder and every ratepayer on a low income. My constituents have concluded that the Government's proposals should be rejected. They are bad for them and bad for the nation as a whole. Therefore, the Bill should not receive the approval of the House.
The petition concludes:
Wherefore your petitioners pray that your honourable House will not pass legislation arising out of the reform of social security White Paper.And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.I beg leave to present the petition.
§ To lie upon the Table.