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Benefits Uprating

I warmly welcome this statement on benefits uprating; it is proof today that the Government have not abandoned the poor and vulnerable. I particularly welcome the uprating on state pensions. Some of us will recall Mrs. Thatcher's being handbagged because of the Conservative Government's disgraceful record for cutting pensions rather than upgrading them. Will my hon. Friend confirm that some analysts in the media are suggesting today that, when we take account of the RPI and inflation trends, the increase may be worth about 4 per cent. in real terms? Will she also confirm that the Government have done more to bring pensioners and retired people out of poverty than any Government since the introduction of the welfare state? A Tory Budget—