Dr Luke Evans, Member of Parliament for Hinckley and Bosworth, said “The Chancellor has set out Labour’s vision for our country for the next four years, and it’s one of tax rises, high-interest borrowing, red tape and broken promises.

“Keir Starmer promised change, but now has changed his promises. His Budget increased spending by £70bn, taxes by £40bn, borrowing by £30bn and our economy suffered. Business confidence has fallen, unemployment is up 10%, borrowing costs are spiralling, and inflation has risen from 2% last year when the election was called to 3.5%.

“The Chancellor’s choice to borrow will see annual debt payments soar to £130bn by 2028/29 – that's more than we spend on education (£63.7bn per year) and defence (£59.8bn) combined!

“The person on the street will rightly wonder why we are paying so much in interest. Is that really a good use of taxpayers’ money, especially when her decisions have pushed debt interest rates up?!

“What’s even harder to understand is, despite all her borrowing, there are still funding cuts to vital departments, like the Home Office (-1.7%), Food and Rural Affairs (-2.7%) and Transport (-5%). I know how much of a concern this will be to people and families across our area who want to see their taxes go towards tackling anti-social behaviour, improving our food security and fixing roads like the A5.  

“We all know that Labour like to spend other people’s money, here is the evidence once again. A Labour Government borrows in our name, but ultimately it is our children and our children’s children who will be forced to foot the bill.”