Clause 1. — (Extension of right to widows' pensions.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Widows', Orphans' and Old Age Contributory Pensions Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 12 November 1929.

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Photo of Mr Geoffrey Shakespeare Mr Geoffrey Shakespeare , Norwich

One point worries me. The Amendment of my hon. Friend the Member for Devonport (Mr. Hore-Belisha) would, in effect, have brought in all the widows of policemen who became widows before the Pensions Act of 1918. I understood from the Minister that his Amendment was not necessary because they were covered by Sub-section (1, a, i). Suppose that a policeman left the force in 1908 by retiring, and he died any time between 1912 and 1918. His widow is not allowed a pension under this Sub-section. Am I right or wrong? If I am right, as I think I am, it surely is not a sufficient answer to my hon. Friend that the case of the pre-Act widow is covered by Subsection (1, a, i). There must be a large class of those who died and left a gap of four years between their retirement and their death. If this be true in the case of the policemen, how much more true must it be in other cases. Many of us objected to those words, "who died within three years," and we were not allowed to move an Amendment. Not having been allowed to move an Amendment, we found that in the very next Amendment a large class of persons were excluded whom we wanted to get in.