§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give as accurate an estimate as possible of the loss of revenue when a married man with four children, earning £4,000 per annum who has been in employment for 10 years and has a £12,000 mortgage repayable over 25 years and no other material allowances or income, is made unemployed and is, therefore, no longer paying tax; and if he will give as accurate an estimate as possible of the social security benefit likely to accrue to the above man during 801W his first year of unemployment, making any reasonable assumptions necessary.
§ Mr. Peter ReesIt is unlikely that a man with four children earning £4,000 per annum and no other income would be given a mortgage of £12,000 and therefore any estimates based on such figures would be unrealistic. An answer to a similar question, with rather more realistic assumptions, was given on 18 January 1980—[Vol. 976, c. 893.]