Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, commenting ahead of the Autumn Statement, said:
 
“This week George Osborne will have to admit that he has broken his promises. He has failed to deliver rising living standards and that failure is why he’s also set to break his promise to balance the books by next year.
 
“Nobody wants to hear out of touch claims from Ministers that the economy is fixed when working people are £1600 a year worse off under the Tories. Instead we need to see big changes to our economy so that we can deliver a recovery for the many and not just a few.
 
“Rising living standards, more good jobs and stronger growth are also vital if we’re to have a balanced plan to get the deficit down. And no fair plan on the deficit can include keeping a £3 billion a year tax cut for people earning over £150,000.
 
“Finally, with our NHS going backwards under the Tories, we need a plan to save and transform our health service too. Labour will raise an additional £2.5 billion a year, on top of Tory spending plans, for an extra 20,000 nurses and 8,000 GPs. £1 billion of recent banking fines should also be used to give an immediate boost to our NHS too.”