As the Chancellor lifted his red box for the press in Downing Street last Wednesday, none of us could have expected what was to follow as he revealed its contents in Parliament.

The former investment banker, known to be the richest MP serving in Government, was at ease when announcing that pensioners and people claiming social security would be pushed into further poverty by his Spring Statement.

Without a mention of ‘levelling up’, his headline of tax cuts in 2024, paid for by starving public services now, was clearly lining up his chances at the general election in 2024, now expected to fall a month later.

Whilst being associated with investments in Russia, breaching his own sanctions, the Chancellor is yet again proving that there is one rule for him and one for everyone else.

14.5m people in the UK are already living in poverty, and with rising prices the Chancellor’s decisions last week mean this will grow. If you are on a state pension, the Chancellor has also broken his election promise to maintain the ‘triple pension lock’. With inflation soaring, now at 6.2 per cent, and pensions only rising by 3.1 per cent, this means the value of pensions have fallen in real terms. If claiming Universal Credit, you too will be in this trap as there is no uplift to keep pace in inflation, on top of having already lost £20 a week in October. I asked the Chancellor to review; he refused.

However, it is a complete scandal that people are now going to struggle to pay for food, warmth and shelter. Unlike France which has protected its people with a 4 per cent rise in energy, come 1 April, here in the UK, people will have a 54 per cent rise. The average family energy bill could reach £2,000 a year.

The Chancellor’s mitigation was that there would be a Household Support Fund uplift. There will, but for those who fall below the Minimum Income Threshold (i.e. experience the pinch with the cost of living), it will work out as just 6p a day. Let me say that again 6p, while paying £100s more for energy, food and housing.

The Tories spurned Labour’s proposal of a £2bn windfall tax on the profits made by the oil and gas tycoons, which would have given £600 to struggling families. Instead, the Chancellor found just £150 off your Council Tax and a £200 loan which you will have to pay back over the following four years. This is not illiterate nor incompetent, it is outright cruel.

Sadly, out of every crisis, people suffer and others profit. It is not just the oil and gas industry gaining, I have also called for a windfall tax on the companies that profited out of the crony Covid contracts. This Chancellor wasted £11.8bn on fraudulent deals, using your money. £11.8bn would certainly heat every home and feed every mouth. Even now, with the war in Ukraine, arms companies are seeing business boom. They too could make their windfall contribution.

I welcome the IMF (International Monetary Fund) calling for the introduction of a wealth tax, so those with excessive wealth share it with those with none. It is only right, and it is only fair.

As for the gimmicks announced, we must remember that for every £6 the Chancellor has taken in tax under his watch, he’s given back just £1. Analysis of his grand statement now shows that Britain is facing the highest tax burden in 70 years, with £24 billion in tax rises this year alone.

As for public sector workers, their much-needed pay rise was not mentioned; forgotten. What a difference a Labour Chancellor would make. Focussing on injecting funds to those that needed it most by taking it from those who have plenty. Old fashioned redistribution. Labour will not sit back and let people go hungry, get hypothermia, and suffer with housing poverty, we exist to end this.

Perhaps the most shocking figure is related to children: 48 per cent of children are living in families which now fall under the minimum income threshold - 77 per cent of these are from single parent households. The extraction of wealth by the profligate always hurts children, the elderly, the disabled and hard-working people the most.

This is why politics matters so much. It is about the choices people make. I will fight with every breath for you in Parliament, and in York too. If you need help, reach out and I will be by your side.

Rachael Maskell is the Labour MP for York Central