Mr Alfred Yeo: 68. asked the Prime Minister whether his attention has been called to the hardships suffered by the old Army and Navy pensioners who were pensioned on the old rates of pension previous to 1914; and whether he will consider some substantial increase to these pensions so as to enable many of those men who are elderly men and depending of their pensions to meet the increased cost of living?
Mr Alfred Yeo: The quantity is a dwindling quantity, and many of them if they do not have their pensions increased will have to appeal to the Poor Law. Could not these pool men have some small increase to prevent them going to the workhouse?
Mr Alfred Yeo: 63. asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of the present, grave shortage of houses and the growing practice of landlords and purchasers of existing house property to evict the tenants of houses of above £35 per annum rateable value, he will consider the advisability of at once taking steps to pass legislation to either raise the annual rateable value entitled to protection under the...
Mr Alfred Yeo: I beg to give notice that I shall raise this question on the Adjournment to-night.
Mr Alfred Yeo: I desire to call attention to a matter which is giving a great deal of concern to a class of the population who cannot very well air their grievances by a strike or a revolution. Next to the question of food, nothing troubles the people of this country more than the question of housing—what sort of houses are they going to live in, and when they get into them how long will they be permitted...
Mr Alfred Yeo: Would I be in order, Mr. Speaker, in asking the right hon. Gentleman if he will receive tome of the correspondence which has been talked about?
Mr Alfred Yeo: Will he consider the retail trade, who have a great deal of interest in this matter, and who have apparently been ignored by the Department during the whole time of the food control?
Mr Alfred Yeo: 44. asked the Postmaster-General if he is aware of the dissatisfaction and misunderstanding among the postal servants who have had their pay made up to the full amount and are now told that they are not entitled to the service gratuity; and is there any reason why these men, who have served the country through the War, should not be entitled to their gratuity as other men who have had their...
Mr Alfred Yeo: I desire to say a few words on this matter. I am not sure whether the Bill covers the question of the 10 per cent. which the landlord is still to be allowed to ask for in regard to the increase of the rates. I do not think that has been put before the House. [An Hon. Member: "Yes it has."] Then I did not hear it. I hope that question will be looked into. Under the old Bill the landlord can...
Mr Alfred Yeo: 58. asked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that the Rents Act gives the judge power to evict a tenant for no other reason than that the landlord wishes to make a better profit of the premises by letting them as a whole than in flats?
Mr Alfred Yeo: 59. asked the Prime Minister if he is aware that in some County Courts throughout the country tenants are being ejected from their homes for trivial reasons; and whether he will order a Return to be made immediately of all applications of possessions pending, applied for, or granted, with reasons for granting same, both in County Courts and Police Courts, from 1913 to date?
Mr Alfred Yeo: This refers to the 1915 Act, and County Court judges are acting in diametrical opposition to the Act in existence?
Mr Alfred Yeo: On a point of Order. Do we understand that, if the Government Amendment be accepted, our Amendment for three years then automatically slips out?
Mr Alfred Yeo: I want to see the Bill got rid of, and the next Order of the Day taken. [Interruption.] That is a matter of opinion. Whatever you do in this House, you will never please everyone. If we try to bring in a Bill that is likely to please all sections in the House, we are bound to make mistakes. I believe this Bill is necessary. Correspondence is pouring in upon Members from all parts of the...
Mr Alfred Yeo: I apologise to you, Sir, and to the Committee, but in these days one cannot help taking up a, challenge when it is thrown down. I do not intend to sit down under anything hon. Members say to me. It might save the time of the House and the country if the right hon. Gentleman will accept the suggestion of September, 1922, as a middle course. It will meet the case as far as the Committee...
Mr Alfred Yeo: I only desire to ask the Attorney-General to clear up one point before we go to a Division. This is a question which is giving a good deal of concern to people who write to Members, because the landlord at the present moment can compel the tenant to pay, in addition to his rent, a portion of the local rate. What I and others would like to know is if the House decides upon this percentage,...
Mr Alfred Yeo: I desire to get from the Attorney-General some help in the direction of knowing whether a landlord is legally bound to give four weeks' notice before he can claim an increase of rent. I raised this question when the Bill was introduced last Friday, and the hon. Member who was then in charge of it promised to consider the matter. It is a point which has given rise to a good deal of misgiving...
Mr Alfred Yeo: The Amendment which I will move is in Sub-section (1), to leave out the words "due and recoverable," and to insert instead thereof the word "made." What I want is, if I can make the Attorney-General understand what I am driving at—and most of us are not lawyers and find difficulty in understanding legal definitions—what I want to get at is this. The county council in their wisdom took a...
Mr Alfred Yeo: After that explanation I am quite satisfied.
Mr Alfred Yeo: I beg to ask leave to withdraw my Amendment.