Credit cut will hit thousands

The chancellor George Osborne announced in his autumn statement that the working tax credit bill will be reduced by capping increases at 1 per cent over the next three years.

Calculations by the Institute for Fiscal Studies have shown that the changes will hit working people hard including one-earner working families who are set to lose £534 on average in real terms.

Mr McClymont claimed that working people were being forced to pay for the chancellor’s failure to tackle unemployment and poor growth.

He said: “Working families in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth will be amazed that George Osborne is asking them to pick up the tab for his failure at the same time as he gives a tax cut to millionaires.

“The chancellor said he was targeting ‘shirkers’ but the fact is that more than six out of ten of the families affected by these changes are in work. For the 6,900 families in the constituency who receive working tax credits, this decision means yet another squeeze on already tight household budgets.

“But at the very same time the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition will be giving a £3 billion tax cut to the richest earners in the country. The Government is trying to create a divide between those who have a job and those who are looking for one; but it is clear to most people in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth that they are only looking out for the extremely wealthy.”