Stephen Morgan MP has claimed the Chancellor has lost control as new figures show the average earner in the South East will see their earnings fall by £1,460 in the next year alone, relative to inflation, under the new plans announced by the Chancellor in his Spring Statement this week.
The party heavily criticised the Chancellor after it emerged that not only would working people still be hit with the biggest tax burden since the 1940s – but that living standards look to plummet at the fastest rate seen since records began.
Labour’s Shadow Chancellor called on the government to scrap the damaging, unfair National Insurance rise, and to choose a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits instead – to take up to £600 off the energy bills of households struggling with the rising cost of living crisis.
And she also slammed the Chancellor for his lack of a long-term plan for growing the economy or wages – saying that his current plans set out no plan for tackling waste or fraud that has run riot under his watch, nor any vision for creating prosperity and security across the UK.
Labour’s figures also show that:
- Workers in the North East will see their real earnings fall by £1,107 a year by 2023 under the Chancellor’s plans
- Workers in the North West will see their real earnings fall by £1,194 a year by 2023 under the Chancellor’s plans
- Workers in the West Midlands will see their real earnings fall by £1,234 a year by 2023 under the Chancellor’s plans
The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, said:
“All we got from the Chancellor in his Spring Statement last week was a promise of jam tomorrow rather than the support that is needed now – and now we learn that workers in the South East are facing a sharp squeeze on their wages, losing £1,460 from their pay packet in the next year alone.
“It also totally lacked a long-term plan for productivity, skills and growth, which business across Portsmouth play a vital role in. He’s simply lost control.
“It was the day for him to bring in a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producers, to take up to £600 off people’s energy bills.
“It was the day to set out a plan for British businesses.
“In failing to do any of these, the Chancellor made the wrong choices for Portsmouth and our country.”
