HC Deb 04 March 1999 vol 326 cc1199-200
3. Mr. Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham)

What estimate he has made of the tax levels paid by the average married couple on (a) 1 March and (b) 1 May 1997. [72415]

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Alan Milburn)

The amount of tax paid by a married couple depends on several factors, including the age of the partners and the way their income is split between them.

Mr. Loughton

That was very informative. It is a shame that the Minister did not follow the Prime Minister's example yesterday and admit that the tax burden under Labour has risen and is continuing to rise. Will he come clean too and admit that married people with mortgages are paying considerably more income tax, let alone stealth taxes, to this Government than they did to the previous one?

Mr. Milburn

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is quite wrong. The cuts in interest rates in recent months have benefited mortgage holders, and mortgage rates are at a 30-year low. I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would welcome that.

Kali Mountford (Colne Valley)

When my right hon. Friend considers the taxation of married couples, will he recognise that children are at the heart of marriage and therefore take full account of the report on child benefit taxation published today by the Select Committee on Social Security? Will he ensure that the Government fully consider the role of children within the family and fully support the lowest-paid families with children?

Mr. Milburn

Of course we shall carefully consider the Select Committee's report, which was published an hour or so ago. However, from April this year, 6 million people are set to benefit from a record rise in child benefit rates. Our policy has been to increase child benefit rates; the Conservative party's policy was to freeze them.

Mr. Edward Davey (Kingston and Surbiton)

Will the Chief Secretary confirm research by the House of Commons Library showing that, under this Government, the number of tax rates in the tax system has increased from the eight that they inherited to 54? Will he try to square that fact with the Chancellor's assertion in opposition and in government that Labour would simplify the tax system and remove loopholes?

Mr. Milburn

If I were the hon. Gentleman, given the Liberal Democrats' tax policy, I would be extremely cautious about lecturing the Government. They seem to think that a penny on income tax will increase spending on the NHS, education, transport, schools, hospitals, social security and welfare benefits. The Government have cut taxes. We have cut corporation tax and national insurance contributions, and the lesson that I draw from that is that people are better off with Labour.

Yvette Cooper (Pontefract and Castleford)

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is a curious position to hold to express concern about the tax paid by families and at the same time oppose the working families tax credit, which will make low-income families better off, thereby effectively calling for a tax hike of £17 on a family earning £220 a week?

Mr. Milburn

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Opposition are addicted to tax hikes. If they had their way, they would abolish the working families tax credit. That would affect 1 million of the poorest families in the land and leave them facing a tax hike of £17 a week. It is this Government who are committed to supporting families through supporting children. The Opposition's record does not bear scrutiny.

Mr. Francis Maude (Horsham)

Will the Chief Secretary go away and work out that there is a difference between income tax and interest rates? He was asked about income tax. Why will he not admit that a typical married couple with a mortgage are paying more than £200 a year more, in income tax alone, as a result of Labour's stealth tax increases? Income tax rates may be the same, but what most taxpayers pay in income tax has risen. Why, for once in his life, will he not come clean and admit that his stealth tax increases have hit precisely the ordinary married families that the Prime Minister promised to protect?

Mr. Milburn

I tell the right hon. Gentleman three things. First, when he was a Treasury Minister, the then Tory Government cut the rate of the married couples allowance. Secondly, married couples are set to benefit this year from our increase in child benefit rates, which his party opposes. One final thing: the dividing line between us and them on tax is that we keep our promises and they break theirs.