Keeping up the fight to control inflation

The latest figures show that the annual rate of inflation in the UK in the 12 months to January held firm at 4.0 per cent on the CPI measure. (See yesterday's post on seasonal variation for a description of the shorter term movements.)

Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have been working on five priorities. Through careful economic management inflation has halved, wages are growing, and mortgage rates are starting to come down. 

That it why it is positive news that this week's new figures showed our plan is working and inflation has remained unchanged. Because of this progress, we have been able to afford tax cuts – reducing National Insurance from 12 per cent to ten per cent, saving an average worker earning £35,000 £450 a year. 

By sticking with the plan we can build on this progress creating a brighter and more financially secure future for you, your family and our country.

We are helping families with the cost of living by: 

  • Delivering on our promise to halve inflation by the end of 2023, allowing us to cut taxes for 27 million working people which saves the average worker £450 a year. Inflation has fallen from its peak of 11.1 per cent to now 4.0 per cent, showing our plan is working. We promised once we had halved inflation, we would cut taxes which we have done for 27 million working people, saving the average worker £450 a year (ONS, Consumer price inflation, UK: January 2024, 14 February 2024, link; HM Treasury, Autumn Statement 2023, 22 November 2023).
  • Increasing the National Living Wage by 9.8 per cent and reducing the age threshold, increasing wages by £1,800 for 2.7 million low paid workers. On 1 April 2024, the National Living Wage will increase by 9.8 per cent to £11.44 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. This represents an increase of over £1,800 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW (Source: HM Treasury, Autumn Statement 2023, 22 November 2023).
  • Delivering new cost of living support, helping vulnerable households with increased costs during the winter months. Eight million households will receive a third Cost of Living payment, totalling £900 worth of payments in 2023-24; Winter Fuel Payments have been increased by £300; nearly three million people will receive a £150 rebate on their winter electricity bills through the Warm Home Discount; Local Housing Allowance is being uprated and the £25 Cold Weather Payment has come into effect for the winter (Source: PMO, Press Release, 31 October 2023, link; DWP, Press Release, 6 February 2024).
  • Protecting the Triple Lock on the State Pension and uprating benefits in line with inflation, protecting the most vulnerable households. To protect the most vulnerable, working age benefits will increase by 6.7 per cent this year and housing benefit will increase. The State Pension will increase by 8.5 per cent in line with earnings. The average uplift for households on Universal Credit will be around £470. 
  • Extending our Household Support Fund to over £2 billion, ensuring local authorities can support the most vulnerable families in their communities. We have provided the Household Support Fund with an additional £842 million to establish schemes that support vulnerable families. This brings the Fund to over £2 billion in value, delivering more than 26 million awards since its creation (Source: DWP, Press Release, 16 October 2023). 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria

Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the...
Read more

Quotes of the day 19th August 2020

Image
"Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise."  ( Cato the Elder , who lived 234 BC - 149 BC, quoted in "Lives" by Plutarch.) There is a similar saying by Germany's Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck: Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have put the same saying in a more humorous form: "Wise men profit by the mistakes of others, while fools will not learn even from their own blunders." See also this thread on the "Quote Investigator" website . Let us all be wise and learn from the events of the last few days.
Read more

Quote of the day 24th July 2020

I was moved to put the passage below forward as a quote today when I saw a horrible post on twitter from someone writing that it was "excellent" that someone who took a different view from her about Brexit had died. I won't write which way round it was so that all the Remain supporters can assume the post was from a Brexit fanatic welcoming the death of a remainer and all the Leavers can assume it was a Remainiac welcoming one less Brexiteer. There's been plenty of nasty stuff on both sides but if you catch anyone of your own viewpoint  posting something like that who might listen to you, please do call them out on it - and point out that they're giving everyone on your side of the argument a bad name. Anyway, here's the quote from John Donne.
Read more