THE LEADER of the Harlow Labour Group has responded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s mini-budget.

Councillor Chris Vince said: “It is good to see that the Conservative Party have finally recognised that Labour were right and that action on energy bills was necessary. However, their approach and an unwillingness to tax the energy producers who have seen soaring profits while energy costs are passed on to the consumer, means that it is the British people who will pay the price in the long term.

The measures announced by the Conservative Chancellor today only act in the interest of the rich, those who are really struggling will continue to struggle as the graph below from the institute of public policy research demonstrates.

On some of the points Harlow’s Conservative MP raises in his article, we welcome the U-turn on National Insurance rises, Labour actually voted against the rise in the first place, we also welcome the news about stamp duty but if he thinks reducing stamp duty is going to help a generation of young people get on to the housing ladder, like the rest of his party, he has lost touch with the sad reality.

“One thing that the Conservative MP for Harlow fails to mention is the fact his government is scrapping the cap on bankers bonuses and cutting the top rate of tax. Helping those who don’t need it and continuing to fail those who do. Sadly this is the Conservative way which is why we need a General Election to give Truss and her mob the boot!”