Tax credits: Tory rebels join calls for ministers to protect low paid workers from impact of cuts

20 Conservative MPs backed a motion calling for the Government to reconsider the impact of the cuts

Charlie Cooper
Whitehall Correspondent
Thursday 29 October 2015 21:46 GMT
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Labour MP Frank Field out forward the motion calling on the Government to reconsider the impact of the cuts on low paid workers
Labour MP Frank Field out forward the motion calling on the Government to reconsider the impact of the cuts on low paid workers

Nearly 20 Conservative MPs have rebelled against the Government and called for ministers to protect low paid workers from the impact of tax credit cuts.

Six of the 18 Tory critics were MPs who were only elected to Parliament this year.

They backed a motion put forward by the Labour MP Frank Field, calling on the Government to reconsider the impact of the cuts on low paid workers and to bring forward new proposals to mitigate it.

Three million families with people in work stand to lose an average £1,200 from their annual income under current proposals.

Senior MPs including former ministers Tim Loughton and David Davis backed the motion, as did MPs from the 2015 intake including Heidi Allen, Stephen McPartland and Dr Tania Mathias.

In a heartfelt speech, Dr Mathias, an NHS doctor and the MP for Twickenham, said that some of those in receipt of working tax credits, including single mothers should be “role models for our society”.

“These people…do not have weak shoulders, their shoulders are stronger than mine and anybody’s here,” she said, referring to some of her former patients on low incomes. “These people that I have met, single parents that have escaped domestic violence, bringing up their children in difficult circumstances.... [are] going out to work because they want to, because they want to be role models for their children. They are doing their best for their families and we must do our best for them.”

The Government did not contest the motion, with Conservative MPs urged to abstain. The motion was passed 215 votes to zero.

David Cameron has said that any changes to the Government’s plans to cut £4.4bn from spending on tax credits will be set out in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement next month, but refused this week to confirm whether the cuts would still come into effect, as planned, in April 2016.

The policy was derailed after the House of Lords voted against, prompting the Government to launch a rapid review of their powers amid claims the Upper House had exceeded its authority.

Stephen McPartland, the Conservative MP for Stevenage, who has been an outspoken opponent of the cuts, said he accepted the party had made a manifesto pledge to cut £12bn from welfare. However he added that the tax credit cuts were “punishing people who are going out to work, doing the right thing.”

“That just did not sit right with me,” he said.

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