Gavin welcomes Tory retreat on Tax Credit cuts
Gavin Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has welcomed UK Government’s humiliating climb-down on tax credits as the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Spending Review that the he has scrapped the Tory plans to cut tax credits for hard-pressed working families.
The SNP group of MPs at Westminster, alongside progressive allies in parliament and across civil society, steadfastly opposed the plans to slash tax credits for working families when the UK Government announced their plans after the election – despite an explicit election pledge from the Prime Minister to not cut tax credits.
If the Tory plans to cut tax credits went ahead, over 200,000 families across Scotland would have lost £700 million – 10,500 families and 17,000 children in Renfrewshire would have lost £1,500 per year on average.
Commenting after the Spending Review, Gavin Newlands MP said:
“Following the strong and steadfast opposition from the SNP and others, the Tories have been forced into a humiliating climb-down and the Chancellor has announced that his plans to cut tax credits have been scrapped. The Tories knew this would be their Poll Tax and have rightly ditched it.
“This will be welcome news for 10,500 cash-strapped families and 17,000 children in Renfrewshire who stood to lose £1,500 on average per year if these Tory cuts to vital tax credits went ahead.
“Fortunately, we have been able to fend of this attack on families in Renfrewshire, across Scotland and throughout the UK, by an out-of-touch UK Government; however, the fight against the Conservatives’ plans for perpetual austerity and their punitive policies goes on.”
