The town’s MP has called the chancellor’s spring statement ‘a kick in the teeth for the people of Rochdale and beyond’.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty by 5p a litre, raised the threshold at which workers start paying national insurance by £3,000 a year and announced a future 1p reduction in income tax as part of his Spring statement on Wednesday, March 23.
Mr Sunak opened his mini-budget by promising to “stand by” families through the current cost-of-living crisis, as figures showed inflation soaring to a 30-year high.
However Labor MP for Rochdale Tony Lloyd said the announcements did not go far enough as people in Rochdale would be ‘really feeling the squeeze of rapidly rising bills for gas, electricity, food’.
Mr Lloyd said: “Families and individuals are really feeling the squeeze of rapidly rising bills for gas, electricity, food. Chancellor Sunak had a choice: to play the politician or do something serious to help us all.
“That would mean a windfall tax on the windfall profits the energy giants are making, it would mean not shoving up National Insurance, it would mean putting taxes up on the better off and not on ordinary households.
“It was a big ask but it was the right one. Instead, the Chancellor chose to leave households and businesses to fend for themselves in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a range of measures he said would give ‘immediate help with the rising cost of living’ (Pic: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
“We’re set to see the biggest drop to incomes on record this year. It’s hard to see this as anything but a kick in the teeth for the people of Rochdale and beyond.”
Delivering the Spring Statement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “This statement puts billions back into the pockets of people across the UK and delivers the biggest net cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century.
“Like our actions against Russia, I have been able to do this because of our strong economy and the difficult but responsible decisions I have had to make to rebuild our finances following the pandemic.
“Cutting taxes means people have immediate help with the rising cost of living, businesses have better conditions to invest and grow tomorrow, and people keep more of what they earn for years to come.”
