Finance Bill
Debate between Baroness Burt of Solihull and Lord Cryer(14 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lorely Burt
The hon. Lady misunderstands me. I understand that people have to buy all those capital items, and I know that this is going to be regressive in that respect. [Hon. Members: “Oh!”] There is no question or doubt about that. I said to the House a moment ago that nobody likes the idea of having to increase VAT.
John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
The hon. Lady says that the VAT increase is the least worst option. Could she list the worst options?
Lorely Burt
Well, we could have some further job cuts; that would not help. We could just not stimulate business; that would not help. We could charge lower earners more income tax. Hon. Members should not forget that this is the coalition Government who have raised the level of tax for the lowest-paid earners—something that the Labour party did not do in 13 years of government.
Income tax is a very important area in addressing issues that the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green) and several other Labour Members have raised. We want to ensure that people can keep more of their own money that they have earned. The raising of the income tax threshold towards our Liberal Democrat target of £10,000—it increases to £7,475—takes 880,000 people out of tax altogether and means that 23 million people will gain an average of £176. That is really important to local people.