Heated moments
29 June 2005
Flaming June
June is a quintessentially English month. Bumble bees, roses, strawberries and tennis. Both my parents were born in June and both of them loved it. The gardens full of promise, the warm sun and, the long cool evenings.
All of these things are precisely what makes June such a difficult month for the Westminster whips. It is hard to get MPs to concentrate on dry-as-dust texts with the sun dancing on the Thames. It is even harder to get them to sit on Bill committees when the likes of young Andrew Murray are making their first appearance on the centre court at Wimbledon.
So why do the whips persist in scheduling controversial, flagship Bills like the one on Identity Cards for mid June? Perhaps they hope that the weather will mellow and distract the opposition. Well, they are wrong. Even though many MPs find it impossible to resist the temptation of the occasional long cool drink on the terrace, most of them make it back in time to buzz and swirl around unfortunate Ministers like angry wasps before a summer storm.
Taxing credits
The Paymaster-General was one of their targets last week. Tax credits, which have helped over 6-million British families make ends meet over the past few years, have been giving problems and MPs demanded an explanation.
As it happens, most of us knew what the explanation was already from our surgery cases. Over the past two years 59 people, out of the 7,800 Stevenage families who benefit from tax credits, have asked me to help them sort out the recovery of their tax credit overpayments. Most of these arose because, for one reason or another, these constituents forgot to tell the Inland Revenue about changes in their circumstances.
Generally, this change was an increase in income. Unless people tell the Inland Revenue that they are earning more their tax credits will not be adjusted down until their next income tax assessment. So, with the average family receiving around £2340 a year in tax credits, these overpayments can quickly mount up.
That is exactly what, in several cases, happened. Naturally, once a mistake is uncovered, the Inland Revenue wants its, or rather the taxpayer’s, money back. Usually, this is done by reducing the amount of future tax credit a family receives until the overpayment has been repaid.
On paper this is fairly straightforward. But, in reality, the sudden reduction in income can cause real hardship. That is why I would like anyone struggling to meet tax credit repayments to get in touch with me at the House of Commons, London SW1A OAA.
Making history
Both the Prime Minister and the Paymaster General apologised for the inflexibilities in the system that caused the tax credit problems. So do I. It is a real pity that such a generally successful programme has managed to hurt some of the very people it was intended to help.
Helping people is high on the agenda at present. Many MPs, including myself, are wearing the white, Make Poverty History bands on their wrists. Some, though not me, are attending one of the Live 8 concerts. All of us are hoping that this very real increase of interest in Africa and the rest of the Third World will change minds and focus efforts at the Gleneagles summit this weekend.
I am rather tired of reading smug pieces in heavyweight publications that decry Bob Geldof’s efforts. As someone who spent a sizeable chunk of her life trying to combat poverty and malnutrition in southern Africa I am just so thankful for the success of his crusade. This rather bedraggled looking scarecrow of a man has managed to make most young people in Britain aware of the problems faced by the developing world. He has also made them determined to do something about it.
That is a huge achievement. It is also the first step on the long road to real change. We have the means to make poverty history. Now we need to make sure that politicians have the will to do it.
So, as you dance along to Live 8, remember to keep me, and all the others, on their toes.
Barbara Follett MP
