Tax credit rethink call quashed

The tax credit cuts are continuing to move their way through Parliament; last night (October 20) Labour’s motion calling for the government to rethink their damaging plans was defeated.

Today (October 21) in PMQs, David Cameron said he was “delighted” that Tory MPs have supported his plan to slash tax credits.

Or, put another way, he’s happy that from April 2016 the earnings threshold at which tax credits can be withdrawn looks set to plummet from £6,420 to £3,850 – leaving three million low-paid workers £1,300 worse off per year.

Cameron’s also pleased that his plans weren’t held up by his own MPs because there was a worry they might be.

Heidi Allen Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire told the Tories in the debate preceding last night’s vote that they shouldn’t go ahead with the cuts, saying “to pull ourselves out of debt, we should not be forcing those working families into it.”

While former Tory chair Lady Sayeeda Warsi tweeted, “Family credits provided my parents the necessary buffer to allow us to study and work our way out of poverty.”

Columnist James Kirkup from the Telegraph struck a similar tone when he attacked the government for “taking away money from millions of people who work for low wages.”

But the government was successful last night with a majority of 22 supporting it; it won with 317 to 295 votes.

There’s significant unhappiness with these cuts because they weren’t in the Conservative’s manifesto: the electorate just didn’t vote for them.

And the Tories will slam lowest-paid workers the hardest. This prompted Lady Meacher, a crossbencher in the Lords, to say she would table a “fatal motion” that would put a stop the tax credit cuts.

But it appears Cameron is willing to do anything to make sure these brutal cuts are inflicted on people across the country.

Menacing

The government warned crossbench peers that if they stuck to their guns, they could face a drive to weaken the powers of the Lords.

This menacing behaviour succeeded; Meacher rescinded her fatal motion in favour of one asking the government to respond to the IFS calculations that three million families will lose on average ÂŁ1,300.

Meacher’s motion could still have an impact, we’ll see next week how it will unfold.

And you can see how your MP voted in last night’s vote here. It’s well worth contacting them to tell them what you think of the outcome in light of the Tories’ laughable claim that they’re the party for workers.