NORTH Shropshire's MP Helen Morgan has slammed Chancellor Rishi Sunak's 'smoke and mirrors' spring statement, believing it will do nothing to help families in her constituency.

The Chancellor gave his statement in front of MPs on Wednesday and has received firm criticism from outside his party about doing too little to alleviate the cost of living crisis.

Mrs Morgan criticised the Chancellor's statement and said that the proposed National Insurance hike should have also been scrapped.

“The Chancellor’s spring statement is smoke and mirrors and will do little to help families in North Shropshire," she said.

"The announcement comes at a point where living standards are falling faster than at any point in the past 50 years.

"Rishi Sunak has missed a golden opportunity to help people who are having to choose between heating and eating.

"He should listen to me and my Liberal Democrat colleagues and scrap the bitterly unfair National Insurance tax hike.

"He should also implement a windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas companies and cut VAT for a year to put money back into the hands of the people who need it to make ends meet.”

Mrs Morgan and her Liberal Democrat colleagues are calling for the standard rate of VAT to be reduced from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent for one year as they do not believe the Chancellor has done enough to protect low-earning families.

They are also calling for the chancellor to go further and impose a year-long windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas companies, to fund a cost-of-living rescue package that would save the average household up to £1,000 a year.

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A spokesman added: "The Lib Dem plans would support the economy by boosting spending on local high streets.

"The proposals would also be expected to keep inflation down by making the prices of everyday items lower than they would have been."