The Chancellor has not long finished delivering his Budget in the House of Commons and I wanted to tell you what today’s announcements mean for the cost of living in Weaver Vale.
Budget day began with brilliant news on local jobs. Since last year, there are almost 590 fewer people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance across Weaver Vale - that’s a reduction of a quarter. Youth unemployment has also gone down by 32% in the past year. I am very pleased that initiatives involving local employment organisations, jobseekers and employers, like my annual Jobs Fair, have helped improve the lives of people across the area.
Later in the day, the Chancellor announced another cut in income tax so that nobody will pay any income tax on the first £10,500 they earn. We had already made remarkable progress on reducing your tax bills, cutting income tax for 25 million people and taking many of the lowest paid people in Weaver Vale out of income tax altogether. Today, the Chancellor went further still, so that if you earn less than £100,000 you will pay less income tax and keep more of your hard earned money.
When I talk about standing up for hard working people, I don’t just mean those still in work. I also mean those who worked hard and now want to retire in comfort. That’s why I’ve voted in Parliament for the triple lock on pensions, so that pensions always go up either in line with wages, in line with inflation, or by 2.5% - whichever is greatest. I’m delighted that today the Chancellor took further steps to protect the incomes of our savers and pensioners, introducing a Pensioner Bond that will offer a better return on savings than any equivalent in the market today.
For savers, the Government is abolishing the 10p rate on savings, benefitting 1.5 million low income savers. The Government is also backing savers by simplifying ISAs. A cash saver will be able to save almost three times as much tax-free as before, when ISAs are merged and the cash limit rises to £15,000.
The Government is also cutting and freezing duties. September’s fuel duty increase is scrapped and fuel will be 20 per cent cheaper than the last Government had planned. That’s more money in your pocket and cheaper petrol at the pump. What’s more, we’re freezing cider duty and cutting beer duty. That’s pubs saved, jobs created and a penny off a pint for the second year running.
To sum up, we all know that the past few years have been tough on our country and on how we lead our lives. We were weighed down with debt and too many of us were without the jobs we needed to provide for our families. But we’ve been making a lot of progress, creating new jobs and cutting income tax so that you get to keep more of your hard earned money. Today, we took another step forward in securing Britain’s economic future and delivering for people in Weaver Vale.