George Osborne’s budget has been branded ‘barbaric’ by Leeds East MP Richard Burgon.
The Labour MP said the Chancellor plans to take money from the poorest in the city and hand it to the wealthiest.
He said: “The reality is, whether it is freezing benefits and public sector pay for the next four years or cutting tax credits for people working hard in low paid jobs, George Osborne is making ordinary people’s lives harder year on year”
The most controversial announcements include, setting a national living wage of £7.20, freezing working age benefits for four years, scrapping student maintenance grants for students with family incomes below £42,000 and scrapping housing benefits for under-21s.
His criticism was supported by data from the Resolution Foundation, a think-tank which campaigns for low and middle income families.
Their figures showed that low earning families could be up to £1,000 a year worse off as a result of losing their tax credits.
Mr Burgon added: “What East Leeds really needed from the Chancellor was an announcement for investment for growth – with a focus on education, housing and infrastructure with new apprenticeships, new jobs and better pay”
Instead Mr Burgon thinks the Chancellor is attacking the futures of young people and threatening their chance of living an independent life.
Mr Burgon has promised to keep fighting for the people of East Leeds despite the new Government proposals.
The Chancellor has this morning defended the budget saying the plans offer a fair deal for all.
Some of my thoughts on George Osborne’s Budget – a Budget that will hurt people in East #Leeds: pic.twitter.com/GzrAOyGsw7
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) July 8, 2015