London mayoral candidate David Lammy has defended a tweet in which he claimed his mother had relied on tax credits to bring him up – despite him having been aged 31 when the benefit was introduced.
Tweeting shortly after a quarter of the parliamentary Labour party defied their whip and voted against the government’s welfare bill, the Tottenham MP said he would have suffered as a child if similar measures had been in place.
When I was growing up my mum relied on tax credits. Tonight in opposing the Welfare Bill I voted for millions of people who do the same.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 20, 2015
Lammy was born in 1972, but child and working tax credits were introduced by the Labour government in 2003, when the MP was in his 30s.
His comments drew immediate criticism on Twitter, despite Lammy’s clarification that he had been referring to in-work benefits such as the family income supplement, which his mother had received.
.@DavidLammy says his mum depended on tax credits when he was growing up. He was born in 1972, they weren't introduced til 2003 #liarliar
— Ann Sheridan (@bernerlap) July 21, 2015
Never let the truth get in the way of a good soundbite (Tax Credits were introduced when Lammy was 31 years' old) https://t.co/smPyTwCtWj
— John Moss (@John_J_C_Moss) July 21, 2015
David Lammy is older than me. I was 31 when tax credits were introduced but apparently he was still growing up. https://t.co/RJaJONBIUe
— Joanna Pollard (@Ranavalona111) July 20, 2015
. @derekdraper Family Income Support introduced 1971 and then Family Credit. In-work benefits same as those now named tax credits.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) July 20, 2015
The family income supplement was introduced for parents on low wages in 1971, under the Conservative government of Edward Heath. It was abolished by Margaret Thatcher and replaced by the family credit scheme in 1986.
Speaking to the Guardian, Lammy said he had used the “tax credit” phrasing in order to draw parallels with how his family had relied on in-work benefits during the 1970s and 80s.
“I grew up in a very poor family, with five kids in Tottenham, which relied on family income support – those are benefits for people on low incomes,” the MP said. “Last night I voted against this bill because it is going to make families like mine, children who are in large families, poorer.
“I have three children, one of which is adopted, and if my family was on a low income, we would be penalised for adopting a child, when adoption should be something strongly encouraged.”
Lammy, one of 48 MPs who voted against the second reading of the welfare bill on Monday night, said he would “make no apology” for his phrasing of the tweet, which he said was being twisted by Conservative activists “who don’t want to face the truth”.
“Benefits change their names,” he said. “What matters is the substance of the policy which would have meant I would have been poorer as a child. I wanted to make the point in 140 characters.”
Two of Lammy’s rivals for the London mayoralty, Sadiq Khan and Diane Abbott, also voted agains the bill, with Labour whips suggesting as many as 40% of the 2010 intake of Labour MPs had rebelled against an order to abstain.
