Clive Jones

I rise to speak to clause 10. It is utterly unfair and shameful that this Government are raising taxes on struggling families by freezing or continuing the freeze of income tax thresholds, which was started by the Conservatives. The Conservative Government spent years hitting people with stealth taxes, and Labour, sadly, has decided to continue to do the same. Clause 10 freezes the basic rate limit for income tax at £37,700, and it freezes the amount of personal allowance at £12,570 until 2030-31. This extension of the Tories’ stealth tax will hit ordinary families, people on low incomes and pensioners whose only income is the state pension. The Government have again turned their back on some of the most vulnerable for the sake of another short-sighted tax grab. Does the Minister really think that is fair? Let me once again offer some advice. The best way to balance the books is to grow our economy, and the quickest way to do that is to repair the damage of the Conservatives’ terrible Brexit deal by negotiating a bespoke EU-UK customs union. A better trade deal like that would raise more than £25 billion for the Exchequer, which would be a huge boost for the public finances. It is suggested nearly every week in this place by Liberal Democrats. When will the Minister and his colleagues start to listen?