Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Treasury – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 13 May 1999.
All our changes, including the working families tax credit and the child tax allowance which will be introduced from 2001, are designed to give families help when they need it most—when children are growing up. Some 7 million mothers and 12 million children will gain from the increase in child benefit. It is the biggest rise that this country has ever seen and is backed up by our working families tax credit, which will start in October. There will be a minimum income of £200 for families in work with children, which will benefit 1.5 million families. I hope that the Opposition will support the measure instead of opposing it.