Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill

I accept what the hon. Gentleman says, but I am talking about the position in general. It cannot be right, arithmetically, for benefits to rise, year after year, faster than the wages of the low-paid people to whom he has referred. However, we must look at the overall picture. The 1% increase is not very much. I know that some Government Members proposed a cash freeze, and I am glad to note that the Government have not adopted that severe option; but in the context of the European and the global financial crisis, a cash freeze is not completely off the table. We have seen other countries take extremely tough measures. Why have they done that? They have not done it because they want to limit demand, as the hon. Member for Glasgow North East suggested. They have not done it because they want to hurt people on low incomes. They have done it because they feel that the fiscal future—the future of the state: the future of their countries—requires a tough approach to public spending.