Oral Answers to Questions

Charlie Elphicke Excerpts

Tuesday 16th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

The hon. Gentleman makes an absolutely correct point. In the long run, higher wages can be delivered only through increased productivity. That means investment in infrastructure, investment in skills and training, and investment in research and development—with both public funding and tax incentives for private funding—and it means ensuring that capital is available for businesses to invest in the equipment that will raise the productivity of their workers. The Government’s ambition is for a high-wage, high-skill economy, and we are investing to deliver that.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Ind)]

Will the Chancellor confirm that the lowest-paid have in fact seen a 7% real- terms wage increase since 2015, and that income inequality is now at its lowest level for 30 years?

[Mr Hammond]

My hon. Friend is right. As I said, income inequality is lower than at any point under the Labour Government. People in full-time work on the national living wage have seen a £2,000 a year pay increase as a result of the national living wage and, of course, everybody in work has seen an improvement in their take-home pay as a result of the significant increases in the personal allowance that this Government committed to, and which this Government are delivering.