Welfare
Mrs
Rebecca
That this House believes the two-child benefit cap should remain
in place and that households with a third or subsequent child
born from 6 April 2017 claiming Universal Credit or Child Tax
Credit should not receive additional funding, because those who
receive benefits should make the same decisions about having
children as those who do not; further believes that lifting the
cap would exacerbate a benefits culture which is unfair on the
taxpayers who pay for it and unfair on those who become trapped
on benefits, because those who can work, should work; and
generally supports further changes to reduce welfare spending and
ensure that benefits are there only for those who need them.
Amendment (a)
Leave out from “should” to end and insert “be lifted
immediately.”
Amendment (b)
Leave out from “believes” to end and insert “condemns the impact
of the two-child limit and the benefit cap, which have driven up
child poverty and left 4.5 million children in poverty in the
year to April 2024, which means that, across the UK, 31% of
children are living in poverty; rejects the Official Opposition's
claim that these policies are about fairness, noting that
children do not choose the circumstances into which they are born
and that such punitive limits punish children for decisions made
by adults; notes that the two-child limit is a leading cause of
rising deep poverty among children; further condemns the benefit
cap for penalising families with additional needs, especially
lone parents and disabled households, and notes that it is
applied regardless of assessed need; recognises that removing
these unfair and arbitrary limits would lift hundreds of
thousands of children out of poverty; calls on the Government to
adopt evidence-led welfare reform, including the removal of the
two-child limit and the benefit cap which would be the most
cost-effective way of lifting children out of poverty and is
supported by groups including Save the Children UK, Child Poverty
Action Group, Barnardo's and The Children's Society; and calls on
the Government to recognise that a fair society does not balance
the books on the backs of children.”
Taxes
Mrs
Sir
James WildGregory Stafford
That this House notes that the Government was elected on the
basis of a manifesto commitment not to increase taxes on working
people and not to increase National Insurance or the basic,
higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT; accordingly
regrets the decision to raise employers' National Insurance
contributions in the Autumn Budget 2024; further regrets the
proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and the burden
on taxpayers from increases in Council Tax, which is forecast to
increase at its highest rate in 20 years; calls on the Government
to reaffirm the statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in the Autumn Budget 2024 that, from 2028–29, personal tax
thresholds will be uprated in line with inflation once again;
regrets that the Government plans to bring those whose only
income is the State Pension into paying Income Tax this
Parliament; and urges the Government not to introduce new taxes
on the value of assets owned such as savings, homes and pensions,
which would drive wealth creators away from the UK.
Amendment (a)
Leave out from “VAT” to end and insert “and calls on the
Government to tax wealth fairly, including equalising Capital
Gains Tax with Income Tax, and introducing an annual wealth tax
of at least 1% on assets over £10 million.”
Amendment (b)
At end insert “regrets that the Government has needed to raise
taxes to deal with the impact of the previous Conservative
administration, which left the NHS in crisis, social care
underfunded, and essential infrastructure such as schools and
hospitals in disrepair; urges the Government to look at fairer
ways of raising revenue for public services and defence,
including increasing the Digital Services Tax and Remote Gaming
Duty and reversing the previous Government's tax cuts on the
profits of the big banks; and calls on the Government to avoid
future tax increases by adopting policies which would foster
growth and benefit everyone in the UK, such as negotiating a new
UK-EU customs deal, fundamentally reforming business rates, and
properly investing in education and skills, including reform of
apprenticeships.”
