I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."

The subject of this Clause has been before the House on a number of occasions. I hope the Committee will now give the matter further and special consideration. The position at the moment is that a doctor, engineer or scientific man, businessman, industrialists or architect in private practice, is allowed a deduction for a subscription to a scientific body or learned society, as expenses under Schedule D. It is called expenses and is a charge against the business. But if he gives up private practice and accepts employment with a corporation or with a company, the subscription is not allowable because his Income Tax comes under Schedule E. In both cases, I suggest, the need for the man concerned to make a subscription is equally great. This discrimination between the man in private practice and an employee is neither fair nor equitable; nor is it in the interests of good public policy. It places the employee in an unenviable position. There is some danger in that, because at the present time the trend is to increase the number of employee engineers, scientists, etc., against those in private practice. For this reason the Clause seeks to remove the anomaly which exists between the position of a man in private practice and the employee.

11.0 p.m.

I hope that my right hon. Friend will not argue that the subscription is a condition of employment, and that the man concerned would he sacked if he did not continue to make the subscription. Generally speaking, an engineer, scientists or architect in employment does not make a subscription to a society because he fears the sack. He makes it because he is anxious to keep his professional and scientific knowledge up to date. In that sense I suggest that he is necessarily obliged to incur this expenditure. There is an additional reason for giving support to this Clause. It is a reason of general public policy. It is of vital interest to the country and to the Government to encourage young scientific technical and professional men and women, to whom i5 as a subscription to a learned society, scientific body or institution is no peppercorn. Very often the man concerned has to make in any case some other subscription. There are subscriptions to various organisations, trade unions or similar bodies. I know of men and women who are anxious to increase their knowledge and experience by making subscriptions to other bodies, but they dare not do so because they simply cannot afford the subscriptions. This condition of affairs is not desirable at a time when it is important that the country should concentrate upon advancement in technology and scientific methods and efficiency. The cost to the Exchequer, I should imagine, would be comparatively slight.