Simply a Matter of Political Choice

Mother-of-four Michelle Dorrell from Folkestone tears on Question Time last Thursday 15/10/15, demonstrates how important tax credits are to people in the District. In Shepway 31.8% of employee jobs are below the living wage.

The Proportion of working-age households in receipt of tax credits ranks Shepway as 93rd – 1 being the worst and 380 the best. So Shepway sits in the bottom 25%.

21.3% is the proportion of working-age households are in receipt of tax credits, in Shepway. Or to put it another way 24, 291 people are in receipt of tax credits in Shepway.  So people in Shepway need tax credits as wages are so low.

21.8% of Shepway employees are paid less than £7 per hour, meaning 25,506 in the district take home less than 224.00 per week. They earn 184.00 per week less than the average for Shepway which is 388.00 per week.

In part this is due to a lack of inward investment and a failure of SDC economic development policy, to bring any meaningful companies into the District. Also it is Mr. Damien Collins failure as our MP to sell the benefits of moving a company to Shepway.

The Tories in Shepway have failed to deliver since they have held power and that has been well over 10 years. At national level they want to take away tax credits which 13 million families will lose an average of £240 a year, while 3 million families will lose £1,000 a year.

Ms Dorrell will be worse off. She knows this and there are many others across our district who will suffer too. It is a mathematical impossibility for those on in-work tax credits not to suffer as a result of the coming changes but the government insists otherwise. These cuts are simply a matter of political choice; they are not necessary. Tax credit cuts at the same time as there are tax cuts for large companies and the wealthiest are about a choice to favour the rich over those less well off. Do not be fooled. Ms Dorrell isn’t.

Shepwayvox