LABOUR councillors have said that measures outlined by the Chancellor to curb the rising cost of living “delivers next to nothing for ordinary families”.

The Labour group on Brighton and Hove City Council expressed dismay at measures outlined in the Spring Statement earlier this week, and said that Chancellor Rishi Sunak “chose to hit working people with a regressive tax rise at a time when inflation is at its highest level for 30 years”.

Cllr Carmen Appich, co-leader of the Labour group, said: “In the face of an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, the Chancellor had the opportunity to intervene and help people who are struggling.

“He chose not to and, thanks to his choices, who knows how many more children, workers and pensioners will drift into poverty?”

Mr Sunak announced plans to increase the National Insurance threshold to £12,570, cut five pence off of fuel duty for 12 months and reduce the basic rate of income tax to 19 per cent by the next election.

However, Cllr Appich said that the Spring Statement “delivered next to nothing for ordinary families in Brighton and Hove who are about to see their energy bills spike by 54 per cent.”

She said: “A landlord with a large number of properties won’t be paying a penny more in taxes under the Chancellor’s new National Insurance hike, but their tenants will be.

“Someone with significant income from buying and selling stocks and shares won’t be paying any more in tax, but ordinary working people powering our economy will.

“That’s the choice this Conservative government has made and, frankly, our residents deserve better.”

The criticism comes as the Office for Budget Responsibility warns that rising inflation is expected to cause “the biggest fall in living standards in any single financial year” since records began in the mid-1950s.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Rishi Sunak admitted it was impossible to protect everyone from the rising cost of inflation, but said “what we can do is make a difference where we can”.

“The government, as it has shown over the past few years, is always responsive to what’s happening,” Mr Sunak said.