Erin Brown | Editor-in-Chief
Working Tax Credits are defined as a state benefit given to those on a low income. David Cameron and his Conservative government wish to cut these tax credits in their first attempt to decrease the budget since the General Election. Despite Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ian Duncan Smith backing and promoting the idea fervently, not every member of the Conservative party agrees. The South Cambridgeshire MP being one of them.
On the 20th of October, Heidi Allen used her maiden speech in the House of Commons to speak out against the plans to severely cut tax credits by branding the cuts as “unfair to working families”.
Allen isn’t the only one as the proposition has caused disquiet amongst backbench MP’s who realise that the Conservative party is alienating the very group they are trying to win over.
Before the 2015 General Election, Cameron was full of pledges and promises to support working families to give them a better quality of life, but by insisting on cutting tax credits many key public sector workers may lose £1,500 every year, resulting in a loss of £12,000 by the end of 2020. Around 250,000 homes in Wales alone are dependent on tax credits. Therefore to cut this vital benefit which provides many with the basic luxuries others take for granted would be absurd.
Since the Conservative Party is a right-wing political party, it is easily understood why they have sought after these cuts. They believe in small government and the right of the individual, meaning that they believe the individual must be responsible for themselves and not rely on the government. However, if the government wish to cut working tax credits, (which are wage subsidies) surely they should raise the minimum wage or better yet, implement a living wage? That way maybe the 3.3 million families across the UK who claim tax credits, wouldn’t have to do so.
The reason the Conservative government won’t do so is because of the massive influence sitting on their shoulder: big business. It was big business who paid for the majority of the Conservative’s 2015 General Election campaign and hence the government will not introduce bills that would be detrimental to these large businesses. Therefore, legislation for a living wage will never be introduced by the current government as this would effectively harm the profits of major companies who financially back them. Further proof of the symbiotic relationship that exists between the Conservative Party and big business would be that corporation tax sits at an all-time low, thus the Tories financial backers are protected.
This scenario highlights the fact that those presently in power in our country are more influenced by the money coming into their campaign than hearing the pleas of the needy and helping them. The Tory government, in order to decrease the budget should start by taxing those who can afford it and deal with the massive problem that is tax avoidance, rather than cut the benefits of those who have to choose whether to heat or to eat.
