Tax credit concerns revisited

Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson and MLA Brenda Hale have repeated concerns over government plans to cut Family Tax Credits.

The two spoke out after Mr Donaldson and his DUP colleagues in both the House of Commons and House of Lords voted against the proposed cuts.

“The DUP have voted consistently against cuts to tax credits in both Houses and have called on the government to introduce special measures to help working families and families on low incomes,” said Mr Donaldson. “The government has stated that they are the party of the working people and yet the cuts to the tax credit will directly impact on the people that they say they want to help.”

In a controversial move recently, the Lords voted for the Chancellor, George Osborne, to hold off tax credit reforms until he came up with a way of “compensating” low-paid workers for three years.

The Chancellor subsequently announced he would next month reveal measures to soften the impact of the cuts on the lowest paid.

Mrs Hale too stressed concerns that the impact on low income families already living in poverty would be one of serious consequences for some 8,000 Lagan Valley families relying on financial support of up to £1000 per annum.

She added a call for the UUP to “reconsider their position on this matter” and work with the DUP to ensure the needs of the Northern Ireland people are met.