RUSSELL BERNSTEIN: Essential we hold Labour to account after budget

I think many people around Bury will now be agreeing with my assertion.

Not only was the budget difficult, I also believe the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered a budget of broken promises.

Despite Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party promising to "restore trust" during the general election campaign, the Labour government have betrayed people by raising taxes on working people, unleashing a borrowing spree, and changing the fiscal rules- all things they promised not to do.

This budget has increased taxes by £40bn, which places even more challenges on businesses by raising National Insurance contributions for employers which the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says will lead to a reduction in the wages of working people.

As a consequence, the OBR has downgraded the economic growth rate by 0.7 per cent over the next five years.

So much for this Labour government claiming it was going to increase growth.

Bury Conservatives leader Russell Bernstein, third right, with party colleagues (Image: Supplied) The tax burden as a result of this Labour budget will now rise to its highest ever level in cash terms in our country’s history.

The OBR has confirmed that, as a result of this budget, the tax burden will now grow to 38.2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2028/29, exceeding the record high set in 1948 of 37.21 per cent.

I know I don’t need to remind people, but we are only into the early days of this Labour government, so who would want to predict what the tax burden might end up being by the end of this Parliament.

Bury Conservatives leader Russell Bernstein (Image: Supplied) Living standards will also be lower, the OBR has said that real household disposable income will be 1.25 per cent lower by the start of 2029, that was predicted in March this year when the Conservatives were still in power.

So much for improving working people's lives under a Labour government.

Also let us not forget that more than 30,000 pensioners in Bury have been badly let down when this Labour government callously decided to restrict the Winter Fuel Allowance to only those pensioners in receipt of means-tested benefits like Pension Credit, thus making many pensioners worse off.

As well as all the issues highlighted about the budget, do not forget that your council tax bill, when it lands on your doorstep at the end of February next year, will show a likely increase of around five per cent as Bury Labour continues to struggle to deliver a balanced budget.

Finally, I want to congratulate Kemi Badenoch on becoming leader of the Conservative Party.

As we can see from the performance to date of the Labour government, it is essential that both locally and nationally, as Conservatives, we hold Labour to account, and as Kemi so clearly articulated throughout her leadership campaign, it is time to renew.