HC Deb 27 April 1971 vol 816 cc219-20
19. Mr. Hardy

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the effect of his recent Budget on a married man with two children under the age of 11, if his income is either £1,000 per annum earned or £5,000 earned and £5,000 unearned.

Mr. Higgins

On the assumption that the incomes given include family allowance, the increases in child allowances give a benefit of £31 in the first case and, coupled with the increased earned income relief, a benefit of £72 in the second case.

Mr. Hardy

Does the Minister agree that most wage and salary earners now receive remarkably little benefit from his right hon. Friend's Budget, unlike the well-placed who are now likely to create a large increase in the demand for luxury goods and services? Does he, therefore, agree that the Budget is not only socially divisive but is likely to greatly increase inflationary pressures?

Mr. Higgins

I do not agree that the Budget is socially divisive, nor that it is likely to create inflationary pressures. If the hon. Member looks at the measures taken by the Government since last June and the measures which have been announced and are now in the pipeline, he will find that groups of the kind which he described gain very considerably.