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The Economy

I must make a little progress and set out the additional support that we have put in place to help people through these difficult times. For instance, 12 million pensioners have received £60 each since Christmas, but that was opposed by the Conservatives. Moreover, 7.5 million families have received an increase in child benefit, another move opposed by the Conservatives. We have increased the investment in the Warm Front scheme so that more homes can be insulated, but that has been opposed by the Conservatives too. [Interruption.] Opposition Members can shake their heads, but such measures are all part of the fiscal stimulus that their party has opposed. Millions of households are benefiting by an average £20 a month as a result of the cut in VAT. That reduction was supported by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which has said that it is in effect equivalent to a cut of around 1 per cent. in interest rates.