Jeremy Corbyn presses PM six times to say whether anybody would still lose money under revised proposals following Lords defeat

David Cameron refused six times under questioning from the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to say whether people would be left worse off by cuts to tax credits after the Treasury revises the proposals.

Corbyn used every opportunity at prime minister’s questions to ask Cameron whether 3 million people would still lose money after the chancellor has looked at ways to soften the blow of the cuts.

Corbyn serves up tax credit question six times – but Cameron will not bite Read more

The Treasury was forced to look again at the plans after the House of Lords exploited the lack of a Tory majority in the second chamber to delay the plans until there was better compensation for workers who could lose an average of £1,300 a year.

Responding to Corbyn, Cameron complained that the tax credit plans were defeated by Labour and other opposition peers in a “new alliance of the unelected and unelectable”.

But Corbyn dismissed his outrage about the House of Lords overriding the will of the Commons, saying: “This is not a constitutional crisis. This is a crisis for 3 million people.”

He cited the case of a woman called Karen concerned about the cuts and said “people are very worried about what’s going to happen to them”.

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“Following the events in the Lords on Monday evening, and the rather belated acceptance from the prime minister of the result there, can you now guarantee to the house and the wider country that nobody will be worse off next year as a result of cuts to working tax credits?” he said.

However, the prime minister would not elaborate about how the government would reduce the impact of the cuts.

“What I can guarantee is we remain committed to the vision of a high-pay, low-tax, lower welfare economy. We believe the way to ensure everyone is better off is keep growing our economy, keep inflation low, keep cutting people’s taxes and introduce the national living wage,” he said. “As for our changes, the chancellor will set them out in the autumn statement.”

Corbyn continued to press Cameron for an answer several times, saying: “Will you confirm right now the tax credit cuts will not make anyone worse off in April next year?”

But the prime minister would only say: “What we want is for people to be better off because we are cutting their taxes and increasing their pay.”

He called on people to “be a little patient” because the changes would not be set out for some weeks.

Corbyn, stressing that he was putting questions to the prime minister “on behalf of the people of this country”, replied: “People are very worried about what is going to happen to them next April so what exactly do you mean? You’re considering it? There’s an autumn statement coming up.

“But we thought you were committed to not cutting tax credits? Are you going to cut tax credits or not, are people going to be worse off or not in April next year? You must know the answer.”

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He also challenged Cameron over comments both he and Michael Gove, then the chief whip, made before the election, suggesting that they would not cut tax credits.



Cameron said he had only indicated the main rate of child tax credit would not be cut. The Treasury’s proposals seek to limit child tax credits to the first two children after 2017.

Downing Street sources insisted Cameron had adequately answered the question, but those close to Corbyn said the answers had been vague and were a missed opportunity to reassure to the public.

The prime minister also attempted to turn the exchange on to the topic of the deficit, saying people such as Karen would be worse off if Britain did not pay down its debts.



The tax credit cuts are aimed at saving £4.4bn, but Labour has pointed out that there is scope for Osborne still to run a surplus without making this reduction.

Downing Street sources indicated on Tuesday night that Osborne had some “wriggle room” in this area but are insisting tax credit cuts will go ahead in some form.



A senior Labour aide said the party regarded Cameron’s House of Lords review “as a smokescreen to cover up the real problem of tax credits”. Asked whether Corbyn had abandoned his “people’s question time” format, he said Corbyn wanted to make sure it was “mix and match” between his own questions and those from the public.

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Separately, in response to a question about adoption, Cameron announced a review of residential care services for children. “For those who can’t be adopted we need to make sure that our residential care homes are doing the best possible job they can,” he said.”

“Today I can announce that I have asked the former chief executive of Barnardo’s, Sir Martin Narey, who’s an excellent public servant, who I worked with when he was at the Home Office, to conduct an independent review of children’s residential care.”

The prime minister said Narey would report directly to him and to the education secretary.