§ Viscount WOLMERasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state why the Operative Stonemasons' Society, who have refused to pay superannuation benefits to their old members, have been allowed to become an approved society under the National Insurance Act; and whether he can state how much money this society has spent on politics during the last ten years?
§ Mr. MASTERMANWith regard to the first part of the question, I would refer the Noble Lord to my reply to the Noble Lord the Member for Hitchin on the 15th October. I understand that the expenditure of the society in question in respect of labour representation during the past ten years amounted to £1,774 4s. 11 id. The Noble Lord will, however, understand that such expenditure does not in any way affect the funds under the Act or the financial position of the society as an approved society.