Oral Answers to Questions

Debbie Abrahams Excerpts

Wednesday 6th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I am very happy to look at the problem my hon. Friend raises. Obviously, it is a Labour-controlled council taking these decisions. I urge it to consider our proposals in the spending review and the fact that councils can now use a surcharge on council tax to fund additional social care, and then recognise that its job, instead of playing politics, should be to serve local people?

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

Q8. Last year, the International Monetary Fund warned that income inequality was “the most defining challenge of our time”,was getting worse and slowed economic growth. By last night, FTSE 100 chief executives had been paid more for five days’ work than the average UK worker will be paid for the whole of 2016. They got a pay rise of nearly 50% last year, while the average worker got one of less than 2%. Will the Prime Minister support the High Pay Centre’s recommendations for organisations to publish data on the ratio of top pay to average pay?

[The Prime Minister]

I am a great supporter of transparency in these things, as we have proved in government. Let us be clear that since I have become Prime Minister income inequality has fallen whereas it went up under Labour. Those are the facts. One of the biggest things we are doing to help with income inequality is, for the first time ever, to bring in a national living wage. This is the year in which we will see people paying no tax until they have earned £11,000. This is the year in which we will see a national living wage at £7.20. Those are big advances in helping the low paid in our country.