§ Captain Kerbyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what organisations, other than trade unions, registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies, the members are required to pay a political levy by law unless they specifically declare in writing that they do not wish to do so.
§ Sir E. BoyleNone. But it is not unknown for the rules of a Co-operative Society to provide that a sum should be transferred each year from profits to a political purpose fund, this sum being calculated on a per capita basis but excluding members who had notified the Society in writing that they objected to the payment. I regret that it would involve a disproportionate amount of work to find out in how many Societies this rule now applies.
As regards the trades unions, to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers, it is 47W the rules of the union, and not statute law, which require the payment of a political levy; the function of statute law in this respect is to provide for exemption from the levy and to ensure that the rules contain certain safeguards.