Ruth welcomes extra help for tenants
Ruth has given her support to new measures aimed at protecting the rights of private tenants. Housing Minister John Healey has announced new...
Ruth backs National Victims Service
Ruth has given her support to proposals for a new National Victims’ Service. Plans to establish the service have been outlined by Justice Secre...
Ruth congratulates local firm on 175th year
Bolton company Richard Threlfall Group Ltd celebrates its 175th year of trading this year. Chairman Richard Hurst escorted Ruth on a tour of the engin...
My role as an MP is to represent all the people in my constituency
(if you are not sure if you live in Bolton West, find out here),
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Report reveals Tories' threat to families A new report shows that George Osborne's plans are badly flawed and would mean taking child tax credits away from couples earning over £31,000 per year A new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has shown that families on modest and middle incomes would have to lose out to make Conservative plans add up. Research by the independent think tank was originally cited by George Osborne as confirmation that his plan to cut child tax credits would only mean ending support for families on incomes over £50,000. However, the IFS’ Green Budget report released this week spells out that in order to reach the £400 million in savings that George Osborne said his plan would raise the Tories would actually need to cut support to modest and middle income couples earning over £16,000 each. When announced at last year’s Conservative Conference it was claimed that the plan would only hit those earning over £50,000. In January when George Osborne’s sums were called into question by Treasury data, the Conservatives reaffirmed their plan in a dossier stating; “Our estimates that this policy would save £400m were verified by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies”. However those claims have been dealt a blow this week with the IFS claiming the actual saving would be far less. With tax credits making a real difference to thousands of families, the reality that George Osborne’s plans would mean parents couples earning over £31,000 would lose out will come...
Conservatives risk to the recovery A new report shows how the Conservatives' plans for immediate cuts could damage the economic recovery, as well as hitting families hard. Warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the National Institute for Social Research (NIESR) call into question Tory plans to cut spending in 2010. Child tax credits and Trust Funds are amongst programmes set to be cut, hitting families hard and threatening the economic recovery. Speaking to The Politics Show in January, David Cameron laid out conservative spending plans saying; “I think it is right to make a start in reducing some of those public spending programmes in 2010, this year.” However, speaking to Radio 4 today, Ray Barrell, Director of Forecasting, NIESR said “There’s no need to cut spending now… what we should do is to have a fiscal expansion now and a fiscal contraction in the future”. The warnings on Conservative policy have been raised by today’s publication of the IFS Green Budget which argues against spending cuts this year. The report follows repeated warnings from leading economists on the danger of immediate spending cuts. Speaking to the Financial Times in January, John Hawksworth of PricewaterhouseCoopers said; “premature monetary or fiscal tightening (i.e. anytime before 2011 on any scale) would be risky” Today's report underlines how the Conservatives’ economic plans would put the recovery at risk and shows that the Tories’ approach would hit families and businesses today. Following the disarray in their position over recent weeks, today’s fresh concerns from economic...
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