MP for Woking under fire over after voting in favour of tax hikes after Autumn Statement 

In a vote yesterday, Conservative MPs including Woking's MP, Jonathan Lord voted to hike taxes on people on low and middle incomes, after it was announced in the Autumn Statement last week.

The vote supported the freezing of income tax thresholds. The policy freezes the point at which someone starts paying the basic rate of tax at £12,571, which will add to the tax bill of anyone earning above this amount. By 2028, the basic rate of tax is expected to be £566 steeper.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies called the Autumn Statement a "shock to Middle England" due to this tax rise, with squeezed-middle families being hit hardest. As part of the statement, it was confirmed that living standards are falling as households have less disposable income.

The Lib Dems have labelled the decision to hike taxes on families as "unfair" and "unaffordable" for people across Woking. They have argued that the Government should reverse tax cuts for banks, which is estimated to cost a staggering £18 billion over the next five years. The Lib Dems are also calling for a fund to help people unable to afford their mortgages after interest rates spiralled in the wake of Liz Truss's budget, and more help for renters by ending no-fault evictions.

Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Woking, Will Forster, said:

"Jonathan Lord and Conservative MPs have let us down. As the Government clobbers low and middle earners and starves our public services, they are disgracefully slashing taxes for the big banks."

"The Conservative Government has trashed the economy and are now making families in our area pick up the bill. The public will be rightly furious that this is how Conservative MPs choose to clean up their mess."

"If I was in Parliament there is no way I would back these kinds of proposals. It is fundamentally unfair that the cost for the Government's incompetence and chaos should fall on ordinary people rather than the richest corporations. I know many people in Woking who are already struggling and will find these huge tax rises unaffordable."

"The Lib Dems have put forward plan after plan to help people with bills, housing costs and collapsing public services. At the next election it will be a clear choice between more chaos, incompetence and pain under the Conservatives or a local Lib Dem who will show leadership and stand up for people in Woking."