Alex Norris column: Government missed its chance to set out a path back to prosperity

Coming into this Budget, as a country, we face deep economic problems and working people are bearing the brunt of this crisis.

Indeed, this Parliamentary term, from 2019 to the current month, is on course to be the worst on record for living standards.

Household monthly mortgage payments are on the up, prices are still rising in the shops and the tax burden is now at a seventy year high.

Yet pay remains stagnant and in total there have been 25 tax rises by the current government since the last election.

This has had direct consequences for households here in Nottingham.

Frequently, my inbox is full of people concerned about food prices, rent increases, rising energy bills and increasing rates of homelessness in our city.

Even before the cost-of-living crisis hit, many households were already struggling to make ends meet. Too often people are forced to dip into savings for everyday outgoings.

This failure - to oversee a strong economy - left household finances critically exposed to the impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Now, the situation faced by many is even worse as they face the shocking choice of choosing between heating and eating.

Last week’s Budget was an opportunity for the Government to set out a path back to prosperity and to start the hard work of rebuilding household finances.

Unfortunately, we saw a government that was more focused on a general election. Tinkering with tax rates will not make up for the severe damage that has been inflicted on households over the past few years.

Nor does it account for the freezing of tax thresholds which will see more people paying more tax.

For workers across Nottingham their payslips will make this abundantly clear when they see their National Insurance Contributions down but their income tax contributions up.

Many will rightly wonder where the proper long-term strategy is to build the prosperous economy that the country desperately needs. On this matter, the Budget offered little hope.

We cannot continue down this path. We need a long-term plan to grow our economy to deliver more jobs, more investment and to put more money in people’s pockets.

My focus will be getting Britain building the homes we need, getting the NHS back on its feet and setting up a new Great British Energy company to deliver cheaper bills and secure jobs.

I firmly believe in the great potential of our country and our people. We can achieve great things but we are being held back by a government that cannot deliver. Britain deserves better and it is time for change.