Cuts to tax credits in budget hit women twice as hard as men, says Labour
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Version 0 of 1. George Osborne is guilty of a “shameful betrayal of parents” after imposing cuts of £4.5bn to tax credits in the budget which will hit women twice as hard as men, Yvette Cooper has said. The shadow home secretary accused the Tory leadership of misleading voters as she pointed out that David Cameron told voters during the general election that child tax credit would not fall. Cooper dismissed the budget in a strongly worded blog as Andy Burnham, her principle rival for the Labour leadership, accused Osborne of dividing young and old in a “Two Generations Budget”. In a post on his Facebook page, Burnham said that young people will bear the brunt of cuts after the chancellor’s decision to withdraw maintenance grants and to withhold housing benefit from 18- to 21-year-olds. The shadow health secretary was particularly critical of the chancellor’s decision to exempt the under-25s from the new national living wage. Burnham wrote: “The biggest slap in the face for young people in this budget is what George Osborne has done on pay. His flagship proposal of a national living wage only kicks in at 25, but his cuts to tax credits affect people of all ages. He was not honest about this before the election and has no mandate for his plans. There is a real risk this will cement a two-tier workforce between young and old as he brings down the deficit on the backs of young people.” Cooper also accused the Tories of having misled voters when she pointed out that the prime minister said during the election campaign that child tax credit was “not going to fall”. She said: “It was a lie. This is a shameful betrayal of parents working hard to support their kids and get on in life. In the 21st century working parents shouldn’t have to go to food banks to put a hot meal on the table, as too many families now do.” Related: Budget 2015: 25 key points at a glance The shadow home secretary commissioned research by the House of Commons which showed that women would be hit more than twice as hard as men by measures announced in the budget. The research found that the budget would take £9.6bn net a year from families in direct taxes and welfare changes – the vast majority of which (£7bn) would be from women. Cooper said: “It is appalling that George Osborne’s budget is hitting women more than twice as hard as men – even though women still earn less and own less than men. In this budget, with George Osborne’s assault on tax credits, working mums are hit particularly hard. David Cameron has a women problem.” Liz Kendall, the shadow social care minister, tweeted that the chancellor was guilty of a “grandtheftOsbo” because his national living wage would be £1,000 a year less than a real living wage. Kendall tweeted: “#GrandtheftOsbo Don’t let the Tories get away with their living wage con – help spread the word. #budget2015” The strongly worded interventions from the leadership contenders contrasted with an emollient tone struck by Harriet Harman, the acting leader, who said that the party would give “serious consideration” to certain measures in the budget. Harman added that opposition parties were often too tempted to oppose everything a governing party does. “When you’re in opposition, the temptation is to oppose everything the government does – and believe me, I feel that temptation,” said Harman, responding to the hour-long budget speech. “But [the Labour party will] best serve this country by being a grown-up and constructive opposition. So while we will fiercely oppose policies that hit working people, and we will expose policies that are unworkable, where the government comes forward with ideas that are sensible we will be prepared to look at them.” Jeremy Corbyn, the veteran leftwinger running for the leadership, said: “This budget continues the asset-stripping, managed decline of our country. Public investment is being cut even further, and our assets being sold off to a total of £30bn. This is a path to economic decline and failure.” “The Chancellor today announced another a tax cut for the richest by slashing inheritance tax, and a further race to the bottom on corporation tax rates paid for by punishing the very poorest with £12bn in welfare cuts. “It is clear Britain needs a pay rise and that applies to our dedicated public servants too, hit today by the Chancellor’s further 1% cap for the next four years. “The measures set out by the Chancellor today do not amount to a living wage, which already stands at £9.15 per hour in London. This is a living wage only by the Chancellor’s definition, and it is offset by the loss of in-work tax credit and housing benefit support.” |