Northumberland Labour says the current Tory government, which prides itself on lowering taxes, has levied 25 tax rises since the last election.

Councillor Lynne Grimshaw Shadow Cabinet member for Economic Growth said: “People have been misled and even hoodwinked into thinking the Tories equals low taxes. The fact is the Tory government gives back only £2 for every £10 they collect. The average family will be £1,200 worse off because of Tory tax rises.

“What we’re seeing now is a Chancellor who is clutching at straws planning to offer tax cuts to get people to vote for them in the next election.

“In my view, we need a sensible discussion about tax. In a civilized country, taxes are needed to run good public services. But people who can afford it should pay more. We should never again be faced with the horror of a Liz Truss government where taxes for the super-rich were slashed in the hope wealth would ‘trickle down’ to ordinary people. This seriously flawed policy cost ordinary people dearly with a hike in mortgages, a crashed economy, and a cost of living crisis. It was irresponsible and ordinary people paid the price.”

Some of the ways a Labour government will make tax fairer are:

• ensure that people who live here pay their taxes here; scrapping non-dom status will raise money to cut NHS waiting times and lists

• to end tax breaks for private schools and put that money into our state schools