Housing Benefit (Changes)

Part of Opposition Day – in the House of Commons at 4:28 pm on 27 April 1988.

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Photo of Charles Kennedy Charles Kennedy , Ross and Cromarty and Skye 4:28, 27 April 1988

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman is so obviously hanging on my every word.

The concessions at the margins that these changes bring about should not allow us to obscure what is happening at the heart of the tax and benefit policy of the Government. This policy has been clear from the trio of debates that we have had this week. On Monday we discussed the poll tax, which will hit some of the poorest because of its flat-rate system. On Tuesday we debated the tax-cut provisions, which give the most to some of the most affluent people in society. Today, we have heard of a welcome change in housing benefit which arose because the poorest would have suffered from the alteration in Government policy that was implemented from the beginning of April.

Taking those three components together, it is clear that the rich are still benefiting most and the poor are receiving something only because of extreme pressure from both sides of the House. That is not a moral pursuit of policy, and it will not command our support in the Division Lobby tonight.