Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the divide between the rich and the poor.

The Government has taken a number of steps to reduce poverty and inequality, and income inequality is now lower than when this Government came into office.

By introducing Universal Credit, the Government will ensure that it always pays to be in work. Those in low paid jobs continue to be supported by the Minimum Wage, and in 2014, the Government increased the Minimum Wage in real terms for the first time since 2007. For those at the top, the Government is committed to ensuring that the richest pay a fair contribution: in the last year, the top 1% of income tax payers paid 28% of income tax revenue, a higher proportion than at any time under the previous Government.