Photo Dan Moyle (Creative Commons)

Photo Dan Moyle (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Jamie Davis, Tax credits recipient

It was with overwhelming shock that I learnt my family stands to lose around £140 a month. Tory cuts to tax credits will hit us hard when implemented in 2016. Some families stand to lose up to £1,700 a year.

I found the figure using my trade union Unison’s online tax credits calculator. I knew we were one of the 2.7 million families who would be affected.

But seeing the actual amount we would lose in front of me drove home the reality of Tory plans.

Lifeline

Tax credits are a lifeline for many people. I am one of the vast number of “underemployed” workers in the UK, with a monthly wage that barely covers rent and utilities.

Tax credits are the difference between us having a reasonable standard of living or existing like prisoners in our own home. Without them, we will struggle to have internet access, remain mobile, even eat.

The Tories loudly proclaim themselves “the party of working people”. But their actions show the reverse.

They drive workers down into the ground, crushing any aspirations we may have under an iron boot of debt and poverty. They take the food from our children’s mouths to feed tax breaks for the rich.

This is a true scandal, with even the likes of the Murdoch press and senior Tory figures regarding it as an unwise move.

And so they should. As the reality of these attacks begins to sink in, this government will find an army of millions of very angry people ready to bring them down.

The Socialist Party fights for a £10 an hour minimum wage with no exceptions, and guaranteed full-time hours for all who want them. Take the wealth off the 1% – reverse all benefit and tax credit cuts.