7 JUNE 1940, Page 3

On Wednesday we debated the regulations of the Assistance Board

dealing with the administration of the new Old Age and Widows' Pensions Act. These regulations will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and the debate was worthy of the occasion. Mr. Malcolm MacDonald tackled his new task with the lucidity and skill which made him one of the successes of the last Government. And it was evident from the speeches of Mr. Lawson and Mr. Graham White, that though they maintained the objections stated from Labour and Liberal benches during the passage of the Act, the regula- tions themselves would leave no one in a worse position than he was in under Public Assistance, and that the lot of many would be substantially improved.