Labour to freeze Child Benefit, announces Balls

Tomorrow, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls will address the Labour Party Conference to set out how a next Labour Government will deal with the economy.

He will stress the Labour leadership’s economic credibility by saying that they will “balance the books”. But, interestingly, he will also go on to make clear that they are aware that “an economic plan must do much more than that.”

Hinting at the stark economic imbalance in the UK, Balls will say “We also need to change the way our economy works… Because while our economy is growing again most working people are still not seeing any benefit from the recovery.”   

In line with this rebalancing of the economy, Balls will announce a 5% pay cut for Ministers and then frozen until the Government has met its promise to “balance the books.”

He will also say that Labour “will cap the rise in child benefit at one per cent”, which Balls will say “will save £400 million in the next Parliament. And all the savings will go towards reducing the deficit.”

Alongside these announcements, Balls will highlight that Labour, unlike the Tories,  “always ask those who have the most to make the biggest contribution”, explaining:

“That is why, with the deficit still high and working people already paying more, we opposed David Cameron cutting the 50p top rate of tax. Now cannot be the right time to give the richest one per cent of people in the country a £3 billion tax cut. So as we get the deficit down in the next parliament, the next Labour government will reverse this Tory tax cut for millionaires. Because Labour will balance the books in a fairer way.”