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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/05/hunt-tax-credit-cuts-make-britons-work-like-chinese-or-americans
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Hunt: tax credit cuts will make Britons work like Chinese or Americans | Hunt: tax credit cuts will make Britons work like Chinese or Americans |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| British people will learn how to work as hard as the Chinese and Americans because the Conservatives have cut the money people can make from tax credits, the health secretary has claimed. | British people will learn how to work as hard as the Chinese and Americans because the Conservatives have cut the money people can make from tax credits, the health secretary has claimed. |
| Jeremy Hunt, speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference, strayed from his brief to defend the government’s tax credit cuts of up to £1,300 for some of the poorest workers in the UK. | Jeremy Hunt, speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference, strayed from his brief to defend the government’s tax credit cuts of up to £1,300 for some of the poorest workers in the UK. |
| Hunt told his audience that reducing tax credits was not just about saving money, and when asked whether the pace of the cuts should be slowed, he said: “No. We have to proceed with these tax credit changes because they are a very important cultural signal. My wife is Chinese. We want this to be one of the most successful countries in the world in 20, 30, 40 years’ time. | |
| “There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard? And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success.” | “There’s a pretty difficult question that we have to answer, which is essentially: are we going to be a country which is prepared to work hard in the way that Asian economies are prepared to work hard, in the way that Americans are prepared to work hard? And that is about creating a culture where work is at the heart of our success.” |
| Hunt also suggested in the interview that those reliant on tax credits and benefits lacked self-respect. “Dignity is not just about how much money you have got ... officially children are growing up in poverty if there is an income in that family of less than £16,500. What the Conservatives say is how that £16,500 is earned matters. | |
| “It matters if you are earning that yourself, because if you are earning it yourself you are independent and that is the first step towards self-respect. If that £16,500 is either a high proportion or entirely through the benefit system you are trapped. It is about pathways to work, pathways to independence ... It is about creating a pathway to independence, self-respect and dignity.” | |
| Unease among some Tory MPs about the possible effect of the tax credit cuts, due to come into effect just before Christmas, has overshadowed the first two days of the conference. | |
| David Cameron insisted on Sunday that people would not be worse off and George Osborne, the chancellor, used his conference speech on Monday to claim that a typical family with parents working full time on the minimum wage would actually be £2,000 better off as a result of a host of changes, including wage increases. | David Cameron insisted on Sunday that people would not be worse off and George Osborne, the chancellor, used his conference speech on Monday to claim that a typical family with parents working full time on the minimum wage would actually be £2,000 better off as a result of a host of changes, including wage increases. |
| But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Resolution Foundation say the welfare cuts in Osborne’s summer budget will leave some of Britain’s poorest families up to £1,300 a year out of pocket. | But the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Resolution Foundation say the welfare cuts in Osborne’s summer budget will leave some of Britain’s poorest families up to £1,300 a year out of pocket. |
| Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said Hunt’s comments were a “disgraceful insult from the richest member of the cabinet to millions of people struggling to get by working hard for long hours in insecure employment”. | Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said Hunt’s comments were a “disgraceful insult from the richest member of the cabinet to millions of people struggling to get by working hard for long hours in insecure employment”. |
| “In a country that already works some of the longest hours in the western world, these comments are simply an outrageous slur on the all too many workers juggling two and three jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads. | “In a country that already works some of the longest hours in the western world, these comments are simply an outrageous slur on the all too many workers juggling two and three jobs to put food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads. |
| “He should get his facts straight before he decides to kick this country’s working people firmly in the teeth. | “He should get his facts straight before he decides to kick this country’s working people firmly in the teeth. |
| “His comments put paid once and for all the Tories’ ludicrous claims to represent hard-working families.” | “His comments put paid once and for all the Tories’ ludicrous claims to represent hard-working families.” |
| A number of ministers have been dispatched to fringe meetings and on the airwaves to defend the cuts. However, Hunt’s intervention is not likely to be seen as helpful at a time when senior Tories try to defuse the row over whether the poorest workers are going to lose money. | A number of ministers have been dispatched to fringe meetings and on the airwaves to defend the cuts. However, Hunt’s intervention is not likely to be seen as helpful at a time when senior Tories try to defuse the row over whether the poorest workers are going to lose money. |
| There had been speculation that Cameron and Osborne would have to announce some measures to soften the blow in the autumn statement, especially as the Sun newspaper has come out against the harshness of the changes. |