Public Sector Pay Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Public Sector Pay

Tom Pursglove Excerpts
Tuesday 24th July 2018

(6 years, 4 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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This Government have achieved some of the lowest levels of youth unemployment for years. Under the Labour party, people were left on the scrapheap and we had rising youth unemployment, with up to 20% of our young people unemployed in 2010. What is important is that while people are training and gaining skills, it remains affordable for companies to take them on.

Tom Pursglove Portrait Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)
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I very much welcome these pay awards. Will the Chief Secretary say a little about the difference that taking millions of people out of income tax altogether will make in tandem with these pay awards?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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My hon. Friend makes a very good point. We have seen disposable incomes—the money people have to spend—increasing under this Government because we have cut tax for basic rate taxpayers by £1,000 a year. We know that the Labour party wants to raise tax to the highest peacetime levels, and the reality of that would be less money for hard-working public and private sector workers.