National Minimum Wage
Debate between Rachel Reeves and Brooks Newmark(10 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Rachel Reeves
I am so shocked. We have two interventions from Government Members. I will happily give way to not one, but two Government Members.
Rachel Reeves
For 41 of the 42 months that the Prime Minister has been in office, prices have risen at a faster rate than wages, and that continues to be the case. The only month that it was not the case was in April last year, when bank bonuses were deferred from March to April to take advantage of the cuts in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p. [Interruption.] That is the only month in which prices grew at a slower rate than wages, not for ordinary workers, but the privileged few who the hon. Gentleman’s party always supports.
Mr Newmark
I fear that the hon. Lady’s answer might have frightened my colleague away. I promise that I will not run away after she answers me. Will she at least acknowledge that this Government, by raising to £10,000 the level at which tax hits, thereby taking 2.7 million people out of taxation altogether, have indeed helped the low-paid?
Rachel Reeves
Work by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that, taking account of all the changes to taxes, tax credits and benefits since the Government came into office, the average worker is now £850 worse off. The hon. Gentleman points to one thing, but the VAT increase means that people are worse off, as do the tax credit changes. Overall, when all those things are added up, people are worse off, not better off. I hope that he will stay a little longer than his colleague to hear a bit more of the debate.
We know that we need to build on the success of the national minimum wage, because today we face a new challenge: getting our economy working for working people and tackling the worst excesses of insecurity and exploitation in our labour market.