After questioning George Osborne during the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West Stephen Williams has received an assurance that the income tax threshold will continue to rise next year, in spite of tougher than expected fiscal circumstances. This was a key Lib Dem policy at the General Election and means that lower paid workers will pay less tax and the least well off will be taken out of tax altogether.

Stephen Williams also welcomed the news that the Coalition Government will raise pensions and unemployment benefits next year in order to stop the high rate of inflation from squeezing the incomes of the poorest. This comes on top of last week’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that a £1 billion fund is to be set up to help combat rising youth unemployment. Taken together, Stephen Williams argues, these commitments demonstrate that the Coalition is serious about protecting the least well off through these tough times.