HC Deb 11 February 1988 vol 127 cc497-8
4. Mr. Redwood

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the growth of real personal disposable income since 1983.

Mr. Lawson

Real personal disposable income has grown by 13 per cent. since 1983.

Mr. Redwood

Does my right hon. Friend agree that that excellent figure shows that policies that promote enterprise, competition and fiscal prudence certainly deliver the goods?

Mr. Lawson

They do, and they will continue to do so.

Mr. Tom Clarke

Is the Chancellor aware that figures put forward by the Family Studies Institute suggest that, under this Chancellor, the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer? Should we not have a strategy against poverty, beginning with the scrapping of the notorious social fund, which the Government are determined to introduce in April?

Mr. Lawson

The studies to which the hon. Gentleman referred were based on incorrect data and we are writing to the institute to point that out. The truth of the matter is that, at all income levels, the vast majority of the people of this country have seen a substantial increase in their living standards since the Government came to office.