Ed Balls MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report, said:

“After three damaging years of flatlining these growth forecasts are welcome, but for millions of families this is still no recovery at all. As the Governor is rightly warning, prices are still rising faster than wages and new figures today show working people are on average £1600 a year worse off since David Cameron came to office.

“That’s why we need action to secure a strong, balanced and sustainable recovery that works for the many, not just a few at the top. Labour will help people facing a cost-of-living crisis by freezing energy prices until January 2017 and expanding free childcare for working parents. And we have called for a tax cut for 24 million working people on middle and lower incomes by introducing a lower 10p starting rate of tax.

“We need a recovery that’s built to last, so we must also bring forward infrastructure investment now to build thousands of affordable homes. And we need to make long-term changes so that our economy works for working people. That’s why Labour will cut business rates for small firms, reform our banks, strengthen the minimum wage and introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee for the long-term unemployed.”

Ends