Thank you to all those who have contacted me about income tax personal allowance.

The tax burden is at its highest in 70 years, with families set to be £1,200 a year worse off thanks to the Government’s freezing of tax thresholds. These freezes represent one of the biggest stealth taxes in modern British history, expected to raise £45 billion by 2028-29 and dragging nearly 4 million more people into paying income tax.

Taxes on working people are simply too high. That is why, in November 2022, I opposed the clause in the Finance Act that extended the freeze to the personal allowance for a further 2 years until 2028. However, this was voted through by Government MPs.

The high tax burden faced by working people is a result of the Government’s failures on the economy since 2010. These include austerity which cut the vital investment needed for growth, the extreme mismanagement of the economy we saw under Liz Truss’ premiership in Autumn 2022, and a long-term failure to deliver economic growth. These have combined to deliver the biggest fall in living standards in a generation.

We therefore need an ambitious plan for growth which will deliver for all parts of the country and make working people better off. This involves putting economic stability first by introducing a new fiscal lock to bring economic security back to our national and family finances. It involves reforming planning laws to get Britain building again and to deliver new homes, transport, clean energy, and new industries. It involves backing British business with a new industrial strategy and kickstarting a skills revolution. It also involves making work pay by introducing a new deal for working people that will deliver a genuine living wage, ban zero hours contracts, and create well-paid jobs across all parts of our country to make working people better off and more secure.