Over 2.4m in north west ''will get tax cut''
21 March 2012
More than 2,411,000 people in north west England will have an extra £130 to spend next year, the Liberal Democrat MEP for the area Chris Davies has said.
On the day of the Budget, Davies said that new figures showed that as well as the tax being cut, which will take effect from next month, 123,000 workers across the region will be taken out of income tax altogether.
While the coalition has agreed to making the first £10,000 anyone earns tax free – although debate is continuing on the timing for this – Davies reckoned he wanted this increased to £12,000 so that anyone earning only the minimum wage would be taken out of the tax system altogether.
Davies said: "With households facing increasing price rises in their energy bills, at the pumps and in the supermarkets, a tax cut for millions of hardworking families is not a panacea, but provides welcome relief nonetheless. Almost half of my constituents will get a tax cut – and it is the lower paid half that are getting the money."
He added: "While Liberal Democrats in government are having to make cuts in order to balance the nation's books and reduce the colossal national debt, we are delivering 75 per cent of our election manifesto. With more money for pensioners, schools in deprived areas and investment in infrastructure in the north west, the Lib Dems are having a real impact."