Dear John,

This Government was elected on a promise of tackling the cost of living crisis and growing the economy - and this is the second Budget where it has failed to do either.

For millions of people struggling with higher bills, all today’s Budget offers is higher taxes, from a Chancellor who has diagnosed the disese but refuses to administer the cure.

The Government has no plan to fix our broken relationship with Europe - the single biggest thing they could do to turbocharge our economy.

A proper, ambitious deal with Europe - with a new customs union at its heart - would slash costs for businesses, boost economic growth and help end the cost-of-living crisis.

Boris Johnson’s terrible Brexit deal has cost the Treasury £90 billion a year. Imagine how much more support families could be getting today if the Chancellor adopted our plan to start repairing those Brexit costs.

Instead of that level of urgency and ambition, today we got a Budget that ignores the biggest economic challenge of our time.

I am glad that the Chancellor has finally listened to our calls to tax big online gambling companies more fairly, and to scrap the two-child benefits cap, which will lift children out of poverty and save taxpayers money in the long term.

And I am relieved to see action, at last, to bring down energy bills - even though it does not go anywhere near far enough. Britain needs a real plan to cut bills, investing in renewables and insulating homes - not the plan of the Conservatives and Reform, who pretend the answer is to scrap climate commitments, which in reality would push bills even higher and benefit Vladimir Putin.

For struggling high streets and small businesses, today brought very little hope. Our call for an emergency VAT cut for the hospitality sector has sadly been ignored.

And as a carer myself for much of my life, I am deeply disappointed by how little this Budget offers the millions of family carers keeping our NHS and society going. We urgently need a cross-party plan to fix social care, because without it, the NHS will never truly recover.

A caring society, a growing economy, a plan to drive down household bills, boost our high streets, and go for growth with Europe - that is the vision we Liberal Democrats have put forward, and one that the Chancellor should have set out today.

Instead, we got a low-growth, high-tax budget from a government that I fear just isn't listening.

Best wishes,