Andy Burnham promised an end to 40 years of ‘neoliberalism’, so voters understandably expected the most consequential budget in a generation. Instead the Chancellor’s ‘steady as she goes’ budget felt like a damp squib, but worse than that, I fear it’s delayed the big decisions and will cause us all pain as government borrowing and welfare spending continue to spiral out of control.

For families in Monmouthshire, this budget delivers a toxic cocktail of higher taxes, rising living costs and an economy struggling to generate growth.

By freezing income tax thresholds rather than increasing them with inflation, Labour has delivered the single biggest stealth tax rise in history, dragging millions of people into paying more tax. Some of the UK’s poorest pensioners who live solely on the basic pension will be dragged into the 20% tax band, while one in four workers now pay either the higher or additional rate of tax. What happened to Labour’s pre-election promise not to increase taxes on working people?

When taxes go up, government expects businesses and families to cut their costs and find efficiencies to meet their tax bills. Despite overseeing a £1.4 trillion budget, the Labour Chancellor failed to identify any meaningful efficiency savings, so current spending continues.

The economic outlook is depressing. National debt is rising, growth forecasts have been downgraded, inflation is forecast to reach around 4 per cent and household disposable incomes are stagnating. It’s unsustainable.

Perhaps most concerning is the ballooning welfare bill. Welfare spending is now forecast to reach an annual £431 billion by the end of the decade. Around one in four working-age adults are on welfare, while our youth unemployment remains the worst in Europe, partly due to inflation-busting rises in the minimum wage, which have made it unaffordable for many businesses to take on younger workers.

We cannot build a prosperous economy with an ever-growing welfare bill and too few people in work. Of course, those who genuinely cannot work must be supported, but we cannot continue taxing an increasingly squeezed workforce to fund ever-growing public spending. We need an economy that rewards hard work, encourages ambition and creates opportunities for young people.

Cut welfare spending, bring down the deficit, reduce taxes and get people into work. That is how we grow the economy, tackle inflation, improve living standards and pay for the public services we all rely on. This is the economic plan Monmouthshire needs.