Pensioners

HC Deb 29 June 1978 vol 952 cc1558-9

9. Mr. George Rodgers

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what benefit will accrue to pensioners whose only form of income is the State pension, as a consequence of the Budget amendments carried by the Opposition parties.

Mr. Joel Barnett

None. My right hon. Friend's Budget proposals already ensure that no pensioner whose only income is the standard State pension will be liable to tax this year.

Mr. Rodgers

I thank my right hon. Friend for that emphatic reply. Does he agree that the policies being advocated by Tory spokesmen would lead to millions of pensioners being called upon to pay much more through indirect taxation, particularly VAT? Should this not be widely known in the country?

Mr. Barnett

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I am sure that he and I will be seeking to ensure that that is more widely known.

Mr. Tim Smith

What benefit will accrue to pensioners as a result of the increase in national insurance contributions?

Mr. Barnett

If the hon. Gentleman will look at the national insurance contribution increase as an alternative to what the Opposition are suggesting, he will see that it will be much better for pensioners. I bear in mind particularly that he and his hon. Friends voted for two amendments from which pensioners receive no benefit whatsoever. He and his hon. Friends also suggest that we should increase VAT, which would harm the pensioners.

Mr. Loyden

Will my right hon. Friend therefore give an assurance that not only pensioners but workers who have been responsible, by their constraints, for the lowering of inflation, will not carry the imposition of the deficit which now occurs in the Budget arising out of these Tory amendments?

Mr. Barnett

I note what my hon. Friend says. I can assure him that these points will be borne in mind when we seek to meet the deficit created so irresponsibly by the Opposition.

Mr. Lawson

Is not the Chief Secretary aware that the purpose of cuts in income tax is to restore the incentives and to create fresh incentives, which will get the economy moving again and make Britain more prosperous, so that everyone benefits, incuding the pensioners?

Mr. Barnett

That is an interesting point. It would be even more interesting if anything that the hon. Gentleman and the Opposition did in those two amendments helped pensioners or those on low pay.