division_name: Working People&#8217;s Finances: Government Policy
motion: <p class="indent" pid="c177.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">That this House is concerned about the negative impact of Government policy on the finances of working people, with a growing squeeze on living standards caused by the &#163;1,040 per year reduction to universal credit, the rise in National Insurance Contributions for low and middle income workers, increases in council tax, the freezing of the personal income tax allowance from April 2022, the increasing cost of household energy bills, the highest petrol prices since 2013 and the potential for the largest rail fare increase in a decade, the fastest rise in private rental prices since 2008, successive above inflation increases in childcare costs, and rising prices resulting from the supply chain disruption caused by worker and supply shortages; and calls on the Government to change the direction of its policies on these issues because they have created an avoidable and unacceptable burden on working people.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c178.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;August saw the largest rise in annual inflation month on month since the series was introduced almost a quarter of a century ago.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c185.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;welcomes the &#163;400 billion package of support the Government has put in place to protect jobs, incomes and livelihoods throughout this covid-19 pandemic, including a temporary cut to VAT, generous cash grants for businesses, a business rates holiday, and the furlough scheme which protected 11 million people at its peak; notes the launching of the Plan For Jobs to help people back into work and gain the right skills to succeed in the jobs of tomorrow through schemes such as Kickstart for young people, Restart for the long-term unemployed, the Lifetime Skills Guarantee and  additional funding for apprenticeships, traineeships and work coaches; further notes the measures taken by the Government to keep costs down for working people, such as introducing and increasing the National Living Wage in 2016 so that a full-time worker is &#163;4,000 a year better off than before, doubling personal tax thresholds giving individuals an extra &#163;1,200 per year, protecting local taxpayers from excessive council tax increases, introducing an energy price cap which protects 15 million households by around &#163;100 a year, and freezing fuel duty for 11 consecutive years which has saved drivers &#163;1,600 compared to 2010; and believes that this plan is working, as evidenced by unemployment forecast to be 2 million lower than previously expected, job vacancies at record highs, household incomes protected, consumer confidence back to pre-covid-19 pandemic levels, and GDP recovering rapidly, with the IMF forecasting the UK to have the highest growth in the G7 this year.&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c185.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;best examples of co-ordinated action globally&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c185.1/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;holding down unemployment and insolvencies.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c194.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The autumn is looking like a cost of living crunch.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c194.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;will see their energy bills rise by 13% (&#163;153 a year) at exactly the same time as their income falls by 5% (&#163;1000 a year).&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c195.1/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I wanted to write you a short note to tell you that cutting back on the U.C. uplift is going to have a very hard consequence on me. I was laid off at the start of the pandemic when the company I was working for closed down. With the uplift I&#8217;m receiving about &#163;300 to last me nearly 5 weeks! The government talks like this was a favour done us! Firstly, I and all those on Universal Credit are not responsible for a pandemic! Secondly, the pandemic is not  over yet! There could be further strains and further lockdowns! What then for people like me! Also benefits did not go up before the uplift for years and years, while prices and the cost of living have. This therefore is actually a benefit cut! It will be the difference for me between just getting by and crushing poverty!&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c202.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;solely for the benefit of customers&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c204.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;this House is concerned about the negative impact of Government policy on the finances of working people&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c207.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;During the Brexit referendum, Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks &amp; Spencer, and chair of the Remain campaign claimed that if Britain left the EU, wages &#8216;will go up&#8217;. This was, he added, in a rare moment of candour, &#8216;not necessarily a good thing&#8217;. But the idea that salaries might rise was exactly the reason that a great many people voted for Brexit.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c222.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;you can&#8217;t level up the country by pushing down the living standards of some of the hardest working families in the country.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c224.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;A rat race is for rats. We&#8217;re not rats. We&#8217;re human beings.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c230.2/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;could be a very difficult winter.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c230.2/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;it will mean I will go without food or warmth so my girls may suffer less&#8230;we go without luxuries and each month is a struggle. Our future is bleak. I just hope I can hold on for them.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c234.4/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;there is no way out&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c240.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;191 Conservative seats will see more than a third of working-age families with children affected by the cut to #Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit. There&#8217;s still time for the Government to listen to the huge opposition to this cut and change course&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c241.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;no passion to want to understand the lives of others.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="c248.0/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We expect demographic and unit cost pressures will be met through council tax&#8221;.</p>