Yesterday’s Budget failed to deliver substantive change for people across Britain. 14 years of Tory failure and economic mismanagement have seen taxes at a 70-year high, mortgages soaring and inflation surging, yet nothing Jeremy Hunt said yesterday will change that. In the midst of a Rishi recession, the Government continues to cling onto the failed ideas of the past and working families across Britain are paying the price.

The Chancellor opened his Budget statement by announcing the allocation of £1 million towards a war memorial honouring Muslim soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars. While this is a welcome and equally important announcement, it is shameful that the Government failed to announce urgently needed funding to tackle Islamophobia which has increased by 335% since October. They should be ashamed that they are doing more for Muslims who died 80 years ago than Muslims living in Britain today.

While I also welcome the announcement of a six-month extension to the Household Support Fund, which was only made possible by the hard work of local Labour leaders such as Cllr. Bev Craig and Labour councils across Manchester and the country. An extension is simply the bare minimum the Government can do. The fund provides a vital safety-net to hundreds of households facing severe hardship in my constituency and I am joining Greater Manchester Poverty Action in calling for permanent funding of the Household Support Fund to be instated immediately.

IPPR North have called this Budget an admission by the Government that it has “given up on levelling up” and I am particularly concerned about what could this mean for my constituents. Cuts to National Insurance Contributions will mainly benefit people in the South East, leaving people in Manchester Gorton left behind. I am also concerned about the negative impact this will have on much needed public services, which are already at breaking point due to chronic underfunding by the Tories.

This Budget is a desperate attempt by the Tories to claw back public support after 14 years of failure. A Labour budget will deliver a long-term plan to grow our economy to deliver more jobs, more investment and to put more money in people’s pockets and a real commitment to investing more money in our schools and our hospitals.

Five Prime Ministers, seven Chancellors and eleven plans for growth later, the Tories plan has failed, it’s time for a new approach.