Archive Report
Archive Report
Emergency Session of British Parliament
Pending Revision of British Unemplyoment Benefits
The chief task before the British Parliament, convened in special session September 8, is to produce a balanced budget for 1932. A deficiency of $600,000,000 has to be made good by fresh taxation or economy or both. Immediate savings of almost $500,000,000 will have to be effected, according to the Committee on National Expenditure whose report, issued on July 31, 1931, precipitated the fall of the Labour government and the formation of the new National Cabinet. Of this total the majority of the committee recommended that two-thirds be saved under the head of unemployment insurance. This saving could be achieved by a reduction of benefits by 20 per cent; an increase of weekly contributions to ...