asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will exempt from Income Tax the £10 per month danger money paid to merchant seamen?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the Reply I gave to the hon. and gallant Member for Ayr Burghs (Sir T. Moore) on 9th February last.

Could the right hon. Gentleman at least consider treating this tax in full as a post-war credit? Would that not be a solid tribute to these men who are being specially honoured this week?

The difficulty is this. As I said in my reply to my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Ayr Burghs, I am sure my hon. Friend will appreciate the difficulty, at a time when many classes of the community are subject to many and varied risks, of attempting to graduate taxation according to the danger attendant upon the earning of income.

Would it not be equally reasonable to exempt from Income Tax the family allowances of officers and men who are at present fighting with the Eighth Army?

Why pay any taxes?