There was nothing at all, apart from the above measures which will prove all but useless in the face of soaring increases being imposed elsewhere, in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring statement today.

The Tory government maintains that his actions put billions of pounds back into the pockets of hard-working people by unveiling a new Tax Plan “to ease the rising cost of living and to deliver the biggest cut to personal taxes in a quarter of a century”.

But even before he got to the House of Commons, Mr Sunak knew he was on a loser when a stall holder at a local food market told him the reality was the price were rocketing – a box of veg had gone from £8 to £18 in just a week – and there was no way his measures would combat that.

Rishi Sunak, pictured left,  claimed that National Insurance starting thresholds will rise to £12,570 from July, meaning  people across the UK would keep more of what they earn before they start paying personal taxes.

The cut, worth over £6 billion, he added, would benefit almost 30 million working people with a typical employee saving over £330 in the year from July. This means the UK now has some of the most generous tax thresholds in the world.

Mr Sunak also announced that fuel duty for petrol and diesel will be cut by 5p per litre from 6pm tonight (23 March) to help drivers across the UK with rising costs – a tax cut worth £2.4 billion.

“This is the biggest cut ever on all fuel duty rates and means a one-car family will now save on average £100,” he said.

This would, he added “let people keep more of what they earn, the basic rate of income tax will also be cut by 1p in the pound in 2024, when the OBR expect inflation to be back under control, debt falling sustainably and the economy growing.

“The cut is worth £5 billion for workers, savers and pensioners and will be the first cut to the basic rate in 16 years.”

The Chancellor also set out a series of measures he claimed would help businesses boost investment, innovation, and growth – including a £1,000 increase to Employment Allowance to benefit around half a million smaller firms.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak maintained: “This statement puts billions back into the pockets of people across the UK and delivers the biggest net cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century.

 “Like our actions against Russia, I have been able to do this because of our strong economy and the difficult but responsible decisions I have had to make to rebuild our finances following the pandemic.

 “Cutting taxes means people have immediate help with the rising cost of living, businesses have better conditions to invest and grow tomorrow, and people keep more of what they earn for years to come.”

Delivering the statement, the Chancellor made clear that UK sanctions against Russia will not be cost-free for people at home, and that Putin’s invasion presents a risk to our economic recovery – as it does to countries all around the world.

The immediate help for people with the cost of living will go nowhere to ameliorate the price rises of food on the supermarket shelves and heating costs for poor families who will have to choose whether to heat or eat.

The Chancellor said that global supply chain issues following the pandemic, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are driving up the cost of living for families across the UK.

Responding to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Christine Jardine MP, pictured right,  said:  “Families were looking to the Chancellor to offer them hope, instead he is adding to their pain by refusing to scrap his unfair tax rises.

“People seeing the biggest plunge in living standards in fifty years will see through the Chancellor’s spin.

“Rishi Sunak has failed to introduce a windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas producers, which could have raised billions to help people with their energy bills. And he has refused to bring in an emergency cut to VAT, as Liberal Democrats have called for, which would put £600 back into the pockets of the average family.”