§ Mr. Godman Irvineasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many old-age pensioners are entitled to duty-free cigarettes; how many of these avail themselves of this facility; what this costs in loss of revenue; and what would be the additional cost if this privilege were extended to every male person over the age of 70.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftNone of the old-age pensioners are eligible to duty-free cigarettes. But there are about 4¾ million pensioners who would be eligible, if all were smokers, to receive weekly tobacco tokens, each worth 2s. 4d. Nearly 2¾ million claim and get these tobacco tokens, at a cost to the Revenue of just over £16 million this year. It would probably cost an extra £1½ million to give tokens to all male smokers over 70.