Last week the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced his Autumn Statement
with a range of measures to reward hard work and
grow the economy while reducing debt and inflation.
We have faced extremely difficult times with
the cost of living and energy crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Putin’s
illegal war in Ukraine, so I was pleased to see the Chancellor’s statement
include many positive announcements for people in Mid-Cornwall.
One of the announcements I was glad to see was the commitment from
government to honour the Triple Lock. As you will know, I have continually made it very clear to the government that we should
honour our promise to keep the Triple Lock as it has been a lifeline for many
pensioners.
From April next year, the government will be increasing the basic and new State Pensions by 8.5%, which is one
of the biggest cash increases in the State Pension ever. This now means millions of pensioners will now
see an up to £900 rise in their state pension payments and are guaranteed a
rise every year. This government will always back our pensioners.
I, and the government, are also aware that many
households are continuing to struggle with the cost of living pressures and
that is why I was pleased to see the Chancellor agree to increase working-age benefits by 6.7%
in 2024-25 in line with September’s inflation
figure. This will mean an average increase of £470 for 5.5m households next
year and vital support to those on the very lowest incomes in St Austell and
Newquay.
We will also be supporting families by increasing the Local
Housing Allowance, so 1.6 million low-income households will be better off by
an average of £800 in 2024-25. This is in addition to the support we are
already providing to help with the cost of living with further Cost of Living
Payments this year.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement also showed that the government
is committed to ensuring work pays and that we reward hard work with the
largest ever cut to National Insurance tax from 12% to 10% for 27 million
working people from January, ensuring workers in Mid-Cornwall keep more of
their earnings.
It is good to see taxes cut and will mean for the average worker
in Mid-Cornwall a £350 tax cut, as well as the self-employed who will also save
on average £350.
The government is also boosting the National Living Wage by 9.8%
from April 2024 to £11.44 with the age threshold lowered from 23 to 21 years
old. This record rise represents an increase of over £1,800 of the annual
earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage and is expected to
benefit over 2.7 million low paid workers.
I was also glad to see the government continuing to support our
high streets and pubs by cutting business tax by extending the 75% business
rate reduction for another year. This is worth a total of £11 billion and the biggest
business tax cut in modern British history, ensuring the most vulnerable
businesses continue to be supported. I know it is very welcome by so many
hospitality businesses in Cornwall. The government is also backing British
pubs, breweries and distillers by freezing alcohol duty to August.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister set out five priorities for
government, which included halving inflation, growing the economy, and reducing
debt. Since then, the economy has recovered more quickly from the pandemic than
first thought, and debt is on track to fall.
It is only because of the long-term difficult decisions this
government has made following the pandemic and war in Ukraine that we have been
able to make these announcements.
I want to be clear
though, this is just a start in reducing tax as we address the impact of the
measures brought in to support households and businesses through covid and
energy cost rises.
It is easy to have
short memories and forget all the support the government has provided that does
have to be paid for. The government’s
total commitment to easing cost
of living pressures so far is £104 billion, which
includes paying around half the cost of the average energy bill since last
October and amounts to an average of £3,700 per household.
As always,
political opponents are quick to criticise, but let's remember Labour
constantly called for longer lockdowns and even more support, which would have
meant a longer recovery and higher taxes to recover.
I now look forward to working with the government to ensure we
continue to deliver positive change for the people of Mid-Cornwall.
As ever, my office is available for any constituents needing help,
advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379,
email – office@stevedouble.org.uk
