The Chancellor failed to tackle the scale of the problem facing the North East of England in his Spring Statement last month. Tory tax rises are compounding increasing inflation, deepening the cost-of-living crisis. The Chancellor’s decisions lead to soaring levels of in-work, pensioner and child poverty in East Newcastle.

The government’s damaging hike to student loan repayments increases the financial squeeze on graduates. I oppose Tory plans to freeze the repayment threshold for current graduates until 2025 and to reduce the threshold for new students as well as extending their repayment term by a third to 40 years.

The Chancellor must scrap his planned rise in National Insurance Contributions and act now to reduce energy bills and tackle the climate and environment emergency by introducing a windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits and increasing investment in renewable and nuclear energy.