Jay McKenna, Regional Secretary, Trades Union Congress – North West

Working people in Warrington have been through 14 tough years. Wages are worth less than they were over a decade ago, with real weekly wages in Warrington £38 lower this year than they were in 2008. Insecure work has soared. And a stagnant UK economy is leaving us all worse off.

On top of that, communities have faced major cuts to their public services. School buildings are falling apart. The NHS has record waiting list, with nearly half of A&E patients in Warrington waiting over four hours for treatment. And the government’s long-promised plan to make high quality social care accessible and affordable for families never materialised.

Is this the budget to finally turn the corner for working families, pointing to better times ahead?

The headline measure is a cut to national insurance. Of course, families will welcome any action that eases the pressure on their finances. But pre-election tax cuts can’t make up for years of falling living standards – especially with the economy in recession and billions of pounds of public service cuts to come.

No one wants tax cuts at the expense of their local services. We need a proper long-term plan to raise wages for everyone and to restore public services.

For example, we now have record numbers of people not working due to ill health, with 31.2% of economically inactive people in the North West being so due to long-term sickness. But if we invest in the NHS to bring down waiting times and improve access to modern therapies, more people can get back to work. Sadly, the budget did little to remedy the chronic underfunding of our public services.

Warrington has a proud local economy with industry-leading businesses in sectors such as transport, engineering, manufacturing and energy. But this can only be maintained with a government that prioritises investment in our local communities, and in the public services we all rely on.

If we invest in modern industry, infrastructure and skills, we can compete more effectively in the global economy. This will protect jobs with major employers from being moved overseas and help local business thrive by enabling them to become more productive.

That’s what Warrington needed from this budget, after 14 years of cuts and false promises to raise living standards. But once again, the government failed to deliver despite working families needing a stronger economy, higher pay and restoration of public services. With an election around the corner, many were hopeful that we would see a budget that made a difference to working people’s lives. But the Chancellor has only offered more of the same – low wages, stagnant growth, lack of investment.

Warrington deserves better, and we need politicians in Westminster to deliver the investment and funding Warrington needs instead of sticking plasters that do little to make up for 14 years of cuts and low investment.