How the New Deal will help 1.5 million families to a better life

THOUSANDS of Evening Standard readers will benefit next month from the work revolution Prime Minister Tony Blair and I are launching today in Stratford. The Working Families Tax Credit will make work pay more than benefits. It will benefit 115,000 families here in London. It is the better deal for working families that the country called for at the last General Election. It means you are better off in work than on benefits.

Today's launch means Labour is not only delivering on a key part of welfare reform by making work pay more than benefits but also using the tax and benefits system to tackle the causes of poverty.

It does not just mean that some families will be GBP 50 a week better off - it means they will be lifted out of poverty altogether. At a stroke it will mean no family with a full-time worker will take home less than GBP 200 a week - and they will pay no income tax before GBP 235 a week. London put its trust in New Labour at the election because you believed Britain could be better.

You wanted better education for your children, more opportunities for young people, a modern health service. And you wanted a Welfare State which encouraged and rewarded work - while looking after those who could not work.

You could not understand why in Britain, at the end of this century, two out of five children are born into poverty. You could not understand why people could be better off at home doing nothing than in work. Or why hardworking families were still trapped in poverty.

And you voted for us because you wanted a Government which met these concerns - and helped fulfil your ambitions for your family and your country.

I know there is a great deal more to do but we have made real progress in building the kind of country you want.

The New Deal has already helped more than 300,000 young people and more than 120,000 have found jobs. Schools and hospitals across London are benefiting from the GBP 40 billion extra investment in health and education.

More than 116,000 people in London have seen a wage rise thanks to the national minimum wage.

More than 900,000 families have benefited from the record increase in child benefit. More than one million pensioners in the capital gain from the abolition of eye-test charges and the GBP 100 winter allowance.

It is a concerted effort to reward work, to tackle poverty and to improve opportunities. But at the heart of this crusade is the Working Families Tax Credit which we are launching today.

It will guarantee, from October, take-home pay of GBP 200 a week for anyone in full-time work with children.

It is designed to ensure, for the first time, that those in work will be better off than on benefits. It means no family will pay income tax unless their earnings are more than GBP 12,000 a year. Around 1.5 million families across the country stand to gain.

And by offering generous help with childcare, up to GBP 105 a week for a family with two children, it tackles one of the biggest obstacles to work - the lack of affordable childcare.

It gives parents here in London a chance to build a better life for their families by rewarding their hard work and effort. It helps people to help themselves rather than holding them back.

Over the next few weeks, on TV and in the newspapers, a national advertising campaign will spell out what the Working Families Tax Credit will mean for you and your family. Contact our hotline on 0800 597 5976 and find out how you could be better off.

The aim is to encourage people in work to find out whether they will benefit - and to make clear to those looking for a job how much better off they would be when they do.

It is a massive change to the tax and benefits system in this country. A landmark in creating a modern Welfare State for a modern Britain.

It is the better deal for working families you wanted. And it shows this Government is meeting your priorities.

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