§ 21. Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the overall impact of the Budget and related matters, in particular consequential increases in nationalised industry prices, on the protection of the poor from inflation.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettAllowing for the fall in income tax paid by lower-income families and for our earlier decisions to increase social security benefits and pool graduated national insurance contributions, poor families will be affected least of all by my right hon. Friend's Budget measures. In fact, 400,000 fewer families will pay tax. The effects on the small consumer of last November's decision to phase out price restraint subsidies in the nationalised industries have been mitigated in some cases by changes in tariff structures.