Oral Answers to Questions

Alistair Carmichael Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

The hon. Gentleman has raised quite a few points. Let me start by congratulating his constituency and celebrating the fact that there are only 220 people there without work. I hope that the roll-out of universal credit will help them to find the additional work that they seek. He has raised a number of issues about the cost of living in his constituency. If I may, I will come back to him on those matters.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

2. If she will end the freeze on working-age benefits.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Justin Tomlinson)]

The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 froze the majority of working-age benefits for four tax years from 2016-17. Those provisions will lapse in 2020, and the pre-existing statutory arrangements will come back into force.

[Mr Carmichael]

According to the Resolution Foundation, the value of working-age benefits has fallen by 6.4% since 2014. What does the Minister think it tells us about the Government of which he is a part that the Chancellor’s priority in the Budget was to give a tax cut to higher rate taxpayers like him and me, rather than addressing that?

[Justin Tomlinson]

The reality is that the poorest fifth in society are £400 a year better off in real terms, and the richest fifth in society are £800 worse off.