Ed Balls MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to David Cameron’s speech to Conservative Party Annual Conference 2014, said:

“David Cameron’s speech showed no recognition that working people are £1,600 a year worse off under the Tories nor that the NHS is going backwards on their watch.

"Instead he tried to pull the wool over people’s eyes. Nobody will be fooled by pie in the sky promises of tax cuts in six years’ time when David Cameron cannot tell us where the money is coming from. Even the Tories admit this is an unfunded commitment of over £7 billion, so how will they pay for it? Will they raise VAT on families and pensioners again?

"The only concrete pledge we’ve had from the Tories this week is a promise to cut tax credits by hundreds of pounds for millions of hard working people while keeping a £3 billion tax cut for the richest one per cent.

"Only Labour will make Britain work for everyday working people, rewarding the hard work they do and saving the NHS they rely on. Our plan will cut taxes for millions on middle and low incomes with a lower 10p starting rate of tax and save and transform the NHS with 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs. And we’ve said how we will pay for it.  Our NHS Time to Care Fund will be funded by asking the wealthiest to pay a little more, tackling tax avoidance and asking tobacco firms to pay their fair share. A commitment the Tories won’t match.

"The Tories can’t build a better future for working people because they stand up only for a privileged few. With the NHS going backwards and a recovery which works just for a few, working people can’t afford five more years of David Cameron.”