SOCIAL SECURITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 February 1943, Page 4

SOCIAL SECURITY

LABOUR PARTY’S ATTITUDE REPORTED SECRET MEETING. MR MORRISON DEFENDS GOVERNMENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) (Received This Day, 11.40 a.m.) LONDON, February 18. A secret meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party is believed to have decided to support the party executive’s amendment expressing dissatisfaction with the Government’s explanation of policy regarding the Beveridge Report. This would have placed Labour Ministers in an embarrassing position. After Mr Herbert Morrison had wound up the debate and before the vote was taken, Mr Ernest Bevin, it is understood, told a special meeting of the Labour Parliamentary Party that he regarded the party’s support of the Labour amendment a vote of censure on Labour Cabinet members and said he believed that Labour Cabinet members would resign from Cabinet in the event of a majority of Labour members of the House of Commons supporting the amendment. In his speech in the House; Mr Morrison said that if the amendment were carried it would obviously raise constitutional and parliamentary issues of a serious order- “I am mystified at the belief expressed in some quarters that the Government is trying to evade the issue,” he said. “Sir William Beveridge himself contemplated that the plan would not be operating until after the war. The Opposition or semi-detached parties too. often made wild promises and then failed to carry them out when they attained power. I will not be a party to any _ such political jiggerypokery. Sir William Beveridge himself thought the plan should be taken in stages. I think the Government will be thanked for refusing to make reckless promises. We do not want a repetition of what happened in the last war—soldiers coming back being promised a paradise and not getting it.” THE MAIN ISSUES WIND UP OF DEBATE. MINISTER’S EXPLANATION. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 12.29 p.m.) RUGBY, February 18. In the debate on the Beveridge report in the House of Commons, Mr Herbert Morrison said that already decisions in principle had been taken on the great majority of the main issues. Sir W. Beveridge had suggested twen-ty-three changes. Of these the Government had for the time being rejected one which Sir W. Beveridge had said was not necessary to the plan, namely, that industrial insurance be a public utility. Of the other twentytwo, six were left wholly or partly open for consideration, the general implication being that the Government would take action on them all, though whether or not exactly in the Beveridge form was left open. The other sixteen were accepted in principle. There were six fundamental principles in the report: The flat Tate of the subsistence benefit, flat rate of contribution, unification of administration, adequacy of the benefit, comprehensiveness or universality and classification of the benefits. The Government accepted the whole substance of these, except the subsistence basis, and while not accepting this in principle they intimated their aim to fix the benefit for unemployment and ill-health on the same basis as soon as possible. The maintenance clauses, employment, comprehensive health services and the children’s allowances were all accepted. After the defeat of the Labour amendment the original motion was carried without division.