§ 6. Mr. Meacherasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a table of the estimated changes in income distribution following the Budget Statement.
§ The Minister of State, Treasury (Mr. Terence Higgins)As we have explained previously to the hon. Member, it is not possible to provide a table of this kind.
§ Mr. MeacherIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the changes in income tax and surtax introduced by the Chancellor have given to the £20-a-week wage earner not an extra pound in his pocket, as the Chancellor has claimed, but only an extra 30p per week, while the £20,000-a-year tycoon is being given an extra £9 a week? Is he further aware that the Government are giving an extra £1 million a year to the poor through increased family income supplement, at the same time as they are giving an extra £300 million to the rich by cutting by half the tax on unearned income gains?
§ Mr. HigginsOne must take the Budget as a whole, and I refer the hon Gentleman to the specific points made by my right hon. Friend last night in the Budget debate in terms of the help that we have given to the poor—help which was not given by the previous Government.
§ Mr. McCrindleDees my hon. Friend not agree that the prospective increase of more than a third in old-age pensions and other benefits over two years, allied to the introduction by this Government of a family incomes supplement, means that the recent survey which claimed that the Government have dealt much more effectively with the poor than did their predecessors is very close to the mark?
§ Mr. HigginsI very much agree with my hon. Friend. Our record and that of previous Conservative Administrations, compared with that of previous Labour Administrations, is a very favourable one indeed.