Finance Bill

I willingly add that fourth group who will lose out because of the measure. The second paragraph of the written answer states that"““four in five households will be better off or see no change in household income””." That means that one in five households will lose out. The person who kindly gave me this answer is right to say that the final number will depend on whether people are claiming tax credits, whether there are changes in the national minimum wage and whether there are changes to child benefits. The truth is that, as we allow the Finance Bill to proceed tonight, four out of five households will benefit, but one in five will not, and the one in five are among our poorest constituents who work. I think it shameful that the Government have run away from giving us that information since the middle of April. Unless I am wrong and the Chief Secretary has some different news, we are not prepared to introduce transitional relief to protect a group who are doing everything that the Government have asked them to do, which is to work, to work harder and to maintain their families. Those households are the backbone of this country, and I do not believe that we should kick them.