My hon. Friend corroborates my point. I repeat that this is not a fantasy: every employer to whom I have spoken is wrestling with this situation. Tax credits can work as disincentives. I accept the point made by the right hon. Member for East Ham about lone parent employment, but to be completely honest I do not have that statistic to hand. The general statistics on employment are extremely strong.
Our agenda is one whereby we will reduce benefits but raise wages. Real wages are now increasing sharply. Obviously, after the credit crunch there was a period when wages were static. It was very difficult to follow that financial shock with a strong recovery, but we have achieved economic stability. The next stage is to share our prosperity more widely and the key to that is not the benefits system or dependency, but higher wages and people supporting themselves. That is a sound Conservative agenda, but it is also socially just.
8.49 pm