15% boost for poorest

BRITAIN’s poorest families have enjoyed a far bigger improvement in their finances than the richest since the recession, figures showed yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics said average household disposable incomes hit a record £27,300 last year – up by more than £1,600 since 2008. With higher taxes hammering the rich, the poor have seen the biggest gains in the decade since the financial crisis.

The ONS said average disposable income among the poorest fifth of households swelled by £1,825 (15 per cent) between 2008 and 2017.

By contrast, the richest fifth typically have just £225 (0.4 per cent) more to spend.

Experts said the report undermined claims from Labour that inequality was rising in the UK.

ONE of Labour’s most oft-repeated myths is that the rich alone benefit from Tory governments. Official figures yesterday blow this claim out of the water.

Not only does the Office for National Statistics show disposable incomes at their highest ever. It finds that under the Tories, the poorest fifth of the population have gained many times more than the better off, with changes in tax thresholds and the minimum wage boosting their incomes by 15 per cent since the recession.

Is it too much to hope Jeremy Corbyn – whose Marxism threatens to bring Britain to its knees, hitting the poor hardest – will stop parroting the lie that Tories care only for the rich?