On Wednesday, I was in the House of Commons Chamber for the Budget, where the Chancellor Philip Hammond set out the governments tax and spending plans.
Unemployment is now at its lowest level in over four decades, with three million additional jobs having been created since 2010. I was proud that the Government introduced a National Living Wage in 2016 and delighted to hear on Wednesday that it will be further increased. From April, it will rise 4.4% from £7.50 an hour to £7.83, handing full-time workers a further £600 pay increase and taking their total pay rise, since its introduction, to over £2,000 a year.
The National Minimum Wage will also increase, with the largest increase in youth rates in ten years, delivering a pay rise for over 2 million minimum wage workers across the country. There was also a further increase in the personal allowance – the amount of money you can earn before you have to pay income tax. In 2010, that allowance stood at £6,475, from April next year, it will increase to £11,850. This means the typical tax payer will be £1,075 a year better off compared to 2010. These are particularly beneficial changes for Pendle residents, where far too many people are still on low wages.
The big fall in unemployment, the introduction of the National Living Wage and the rise in the personal allowance mean that income inequality is now at its lowest level in 30 years. The top 1% of earners are now paying a larger share of income tax than at any time under the last Labour government and the poorest 10% have seen their real incomes grow faster since 2010 than the richest 10%.
In addition to these changes there were welcome announcements on NHS funding, with an additional £2.8 billion of funding in 2019-20. Fuel duty remains frozen for the eighth consecutive year and there was more money for road and other transport improvements.
Budgets are always difficult balancing acts for any Chancellor and as a country we continue to spend more on public services than we collect in tax, however the deficit continues to fall. I welcome the announcements made on Wednesday and will continue to fight for more investment in Pendle and more policies that benefit our area.