Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to warnings from the OBR’s Robert Chote that income tax revenues are likely to be lower than expected, said:

“This warning from the Office for Budget Responsibility is a cause for concern. The Tory-led Government has already broken their promise to balance the books in this Parliament. The Government is borrowing £190 billion more than planned over this parliament and the OBR is now highlighting the impact of low pay on revenues.“

“Under this Government we are seeing a growing cost-of-living crisis with the average wages of working people down £1,600 year since the election, and George Osborne’s attempt to offer unfunded pie-in-the-sky tax cuts at some point in the future won’t mask the fact that his failure on deficit reduction means he has chosen to hit millions of working families with a strivers’ tax that will cost many families up to £500 a year.

“We need a proper economic plan that builds the homes we need and supports good well paid jobs by making work pay through more childcare for working parents, an increase in the minimum wage and a funded tax cut for 24 million people through a new 10p tax band.”

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