Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 16 June 1947.
Lieut-Commander Joseph Braithwaite
, Holderness
12:00,
16 June 1947
I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."
This new Clause rests on a brief history. In the financial year 1939–40 relief was granted to an individual who was taxed on his earned income for the preceding year if his actual income for that year was not more than four-fifths of his earned income in the preceding financial year. This was a reduction of his assessment down to the actual income of 1939–40, and it was, of course, a condition of relief that the fall in his income was due to circumstances which could be shown to be directly or indirectly due to or connected with the war. The concession made at that time has been extended up to 1946–47, although the end of that financial year brought us to a time two years from the end of hostilities. It is not extended by the present Finance Bill to the current year 1947–48, with which we are now dealing.
12 m.
This new Clause seeks to make that extension and the reason which we adduce is quite simple. It is true that the war and the crisis connected with it are ended, but there fell upon us this spring a trade crisis of the greatest severity owing to the fuel cuts and the severe weather which we experienced in the early months of the year: The Opposition is anxious to make this a non-controversial atmosphere, to retain our equipoise: so we are not blaming the Government for the weather in this connection, nor the weather for the Government. All we seek to emphasise is that the circumstances in the early months of 1947 have caused a most grievous loss of income in many trades and businesses, and we think that the principle which underlay the emergency wartime regulations should equally apply to the financial year 1948. The relief does not apply to corporate bodies and employees, but mainly to sole traders, partners and farmers. The right hon. Gentleman will see at once the importance of farmers being brought within the purview of this Clause. We discussed this under another Measure and we shall be discussing it on Friday, but it is important that farmers should be brought in. We therefore suggest that it be continued to the end of the present financial year.
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