Jeremy Corbyn accuses the Tories of 'robbing' millions of Britain's poorest families
Labour leader condemns David Cameron over 'fake claims' to fight poverty on a visit to Scotland
Jeremy Corbyn will accuse the Conservative government of “robbing” millions of Britain’s poorest families of £1,300 a year with its cuts to working tax credits as he makes his second visit to Scotland in as many weeks on Friday evening.
The Labour leader will hit out at David Cameron for making “fake claims” on fighting poverty in his speech to the Tory party conference, which he used to make a pitch to voters in the centre of British politics alienated by Labour’s shift to the left.
Independent experts have warned that George Osborne’s refusal to soften the planned £4.5bn a year cuts in tax credits that come into effect next April will hit the poorest workers and make three million families £1,300 a year worse off.
However, speaking on Wednesday, the Prime Minister promised an “all-out assault on poverty” and said he would dedicate his final five years in power pursuing the values of "freedom, democracy and equality” to fight the underlying social problems of poverty, lack of opportunity, discrimination and extremism that he said were holding the UK back.
Speaking on a visit to Scotland, Mr Corbyn will say: “The Tory conference was a feast of spin and deception.
“Fake claims to be on the side of working people while robbing three million low paid families of £1,300 a year with the Tax Credit cuts.
“Fake claims to be fighting poverty on the very day independent research revealed their cuts would drive more than 200,000 working households into poverty.”
He will add: “So behind the spin and the rhetoric we could all see out of their own mouths it was the same old Tories. On the side of the few not the many, robbing millions of Britain's low paid workers to fund an Inheritance Tax cut for the 60,000 wealthiest estates, whose answer on tax credits now is apparently to send families their cuts letter after rather than before Christmas.”
The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the cuts will cost three million families £1,300 a year despite the introduction of a new living wage of £7.20 an hour, which also comes in next April.
Meanwhile an analysis on the impact of all welfare changes by the Resolution Foundation found that 200,000 children will be pushed into poverty next year alone.
And the Treasury itself admitted yesterday that families will be worse off next year as a result of the cuts tax credits being introduced in April 2016.
A Treasury spokesman, responding to the Resolution Foundation research, insisted most working families would be better off but only once all reforms had come into effect in 2017.
The Labour leader has vowed to visit Scotland at least once every month before next May’s Scottish Parliament elections.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies