§ 35. Sir C. Osborneasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity in view of the fact that she has now withdrawn her proposals for imprisonment and compulsory wage detachments in relation to unofficial strikes, if she will introduce legislation to prevent repayment of Pay-As-You-Earn and to deny all welfare payments as alternative deterrents to unofficial strikers.
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§ Mrs. CastleAs the White Paper "In Place of Strife" makes clear, it was never intended that there should be a liability to imprisonment as a result of breach of an order imposing a conciliation pause, and as I explained to the House on 16th April, attachment of earnings is envisaged not as an automatic penalty but as a procedure of last resort. The hon. Gentleman has therefore wrongly stated the Government's proposals. In any case the alternatives he suggests would be totally unacceptable to the Government.—[Vol. 781, c. 1185–6.]