Labour has accused the chancellor of using ‘smoke and mirrors’ in today’s budget announcement to hide the fact disabled people and working families are worse off under the current government.
Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called the budget announcement a ’classic Tory con’, which gave with hand and took with the other.
He said there had been 24 tax rises since George Osborne became chancellor, with 4.6m families facing cuts to tax credits. He also pointed to the 400,000 people paying the Bedroom Tax and 350,000 people relying on food banks.
Reacting to the budget, Miliband said: ‘This recovery’s not working for working people whose living standards are falling.
’It’s not working for millions of women who see the gap between men and women’s pay rising.
’It’s not working for low-paid people promised by the Chancellor a £7 minimum wage, but given just 19p more an hour.
’Under this Government it’s an economy of the privileged, by the privileged, for the privileged.
’And instead of today admitting the truth about what is happening in most people’s lives, they want to tell them the opposite.’
He pledged that Labour would cut business rates, reform the banks, freeze energy bills, abolish the Bedroom Tax and guarantee jobs for young people if Labour came into power.
