Clwyd West MP, David Jones, has welcomed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, which contains a raft of supply-side reforms designed to stimulate growth and put more money into the pockets of hardworking families.
The Statement constitutes the most radical package of tax cuts to be implemented at a fiscal event since the 1980s.
It combines the biggest tax cut on investment in modern British history with the largest ever cut to workers’ National Insurance – a £20 billion package of annual tax cuts.
The Autumn Statement for Growth will:
• Cut taxes for 27 million working people from January by reducing the main rate of National Insurance Contributions from 12 per cent to 10 per cent. For the average worker earning £35,000 a year, that means a £450 tax cut.
• Cut and simplify tax for 2 million of the self-employed, abolishing an entire class of NICs and cutting the NICs top rate from 9 per cent to 8 per cent – an average total saving of around £350 for someone earning £28,000 a year.
• Cut business taxes by £11 billion – the biggest business tax cut in modern British history, by permanently enabling businesses to invest for less and offset investments against their tax bills.
• Reduce debt, with the OBR forecasting we will meet our fiscal rule to have debt falling as a share of the economy a year early.
• Boost the National Living Wage to record levels: £11.44 an hour. That is a 9.8 per cent increase, benefiting 2.7 million workers.
• Help the most vulnerable with an average income boost of £800. 1.6 million of the families most struggling with the cost of living will have their Local Housing Allowance increased.
• Boost pensions, in line with the Triple Lock, by 8.5 per cent – ensuring dignity in older age for those who have worked their entire lives. The basic State Pension will be £3,750 higher than in 2010.
• Freeze alcohol duty, alleviating pressure on the hospitality sector.
• Increase all working age benefits in full by 6.7 per cent, boosting benefit payments for around 5.5 million households who receive Universal Credit – by an average of £470 a year.
• Provide support with the cost of living with further Cost of Living Payments this year, helping more than 8 million UK households on eligible means-tested-benefits, 8 million pensioner households and 6 million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits.
David Jones said:
“The statement is good news for people from all walks of life across Clwyd West.
“Business operators will benefit from permanent expensing, enabling them to invest more in the expansion of their businesses.
“The self-employed will benefit from the abolition of an entire class of National Insurance contributions and cutting the top rate of NICs from 9 per cent to 8 per cent.
“Pensioners will benefit from the continuation of the Triple Lock, boosting pensions by 8.5 per cent from April.
“And all employed workers will benefit from the cut of 2 per cent in the mail rate of National Insurance contributions.
“North Wales as a whole will benefit from the new investment zone in Wrexham, which will bring more high-quality employment into the region, and the funding of £800,000 for the Space Technology Test Centre is also good news.
“The Government’s determination to squeeze inflation out of the system has borne fruit and now the benefits are becoming apparent for all our citizens.”
