Chancellor's speech keeps low paid under attack and will increase regional inequality, says TUC

5 October 2015

Responding to the speech today (Monday) by George Osborne at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, in which he reiterated his commitment to cutting tax credits for low-paid workers, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The government's cuts to tax credits are an astonishing attack on working people. They are so severe that, even with a higher minimum wage and higher tax threshold, most low-paid families will be much worse off. But despite people from his own party urging the Chancellor to think again, he has refused to listen.

“The Chancellor has finally recognised infrastructure investment as the priority it should have been five years ago. But if he keeps cutting public investment, then it will all be pie in the sky. We need a properly capitalised National Investment Bank to ensure the infrastructure that Britain needs gets built.

“We all want more decisions to be made locally. But by devolving business rates without any national safeguards, regional inequalities will get wider. The communities that most need investment are often those with the weakest business revenue base, so it is vital that the Treasury retains a significant role in regional economic development.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews