New Clause 5 — Transfer of personal allowances between spouses

Part of Bail (Amendment) – in the House of Commons at 9:15 pm on 28 June 2011.

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Photo of Barry Gardiner Barry Gardiner Labour, Brent North 9:15, 28 June 2011

My apologies, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has said that this measure is not about incentivising marriage, or about penalising people. Can he therefore explain why, under the proposals, a woman with children who has recently been widowed would suffer a financial loss at precisely the time when the family needed the money the most? That seems to me to be a fundamental flaw in the proposals.