Meeting Gordon Brown

I met Chancellor Gordon Brown at the House of Commons last week at the launch of the Co-operative Party manifesto – I’m a Labour and Co-op candidate – and pressed him to visit Hackney.

Gordon’s recent budget means that Hackney families don’t start paying tax until they are earning £22,000 a year – thanks to new tax credits.

I told him about the needs of hard-working families and of pensioners in Hackney and asked him to come and see for himself.

Hackney is a very young borough and the support given to families is particularly important here – I told Gordon about the fantastic mix of people making up Hackney South and Shoreditch which he is interested in seeing.

I also raised with him the issues that local pensioners had raised with me in Hackney last month. He stressed the link between the pension credit and earnings which has put a lot of money in the pockets of many Hackney pensioners.

Central to the Budget plans are measures to increase the incomes of the poorest pensioners. The pension credit will rise by 13 per cent by 2008, in line with earnings – benefiting 3.2 million pensioner households including many in Hackney South and Shoreditch.

Gordon Brown also confirmed that all pensioners are set to receive a £200 refund in council tax which is more good news for Hackney’s pensioners. He announced real term increases in child tax credits which is excellent news for Hackney families. It means a family with two children will not start paying income tax until the household income reaches £430 a week.

And to help cash-strapped first time buyers, Gordon confirmed he will increase the tax exemption on stamp duty from £60,000 to over £120,000. He is also introducing a shared equity scheme for 100,000 new home buyers. And tax relief on ISA savings accounts will be extended until 2010.

I am fully behind these moves which show Labour cares about the vulnerable in our community.