Milton Keynes’s Labour MPs voted yesterday to break their manifesto pledge by introducing a series of tax rises from last week’s Budget that will hit working families in Milton Keynes.
These changes come despite Chancellor Rachel Reeves promising to not ‘come back with more borrowing or more taxes’ following last year’s £40 billion tax hikes.
Conservative Councillors say the decision to back these measures is unforgivable and shows a complete disregard for the cost-of-living pressures residents across our city are facing.
Chris Curtis MP, Callum Anderson MP and Emily Darlington MP voted in favour of extending the freeze on income tax thresholds — a move the OBR confirms will drag 1.7 million more people nationally into higher tax brackets, including nearly 800,000 more who will be pushed into paying the basic rate as their income edges above £12,570.
Conservative Councillors say that whilst our Labour MPs were prepared to support such a blatant break from their manifesto, they are not supporting ordinary residents- workers, parents, commuters, young people and small business owners already struggling with rising costs here in Milton Keynes.
Cllr Shazna Muzammil, Leader of the MK Conservative Group, said:
“People in Milton Keynes are already feeling the pressure of mortgages, rents and food bills rising month after month. What they needed was some relief. Instead, our three Labour MPs voted to make life even more expensive.
They promised residents they wouldn’t raise taxes — yet when the moment came, they backed the Budget that does exactly that. It’s no wonder people are losing trust in politics. You simply cannot claim to stand up for hard-working families and then vote through the very tax rises that hit them the hardest.”
The City’s MPs also voted to support the ‘Family Farm tax’, first announced in last year’s Budget, which is expected to affect around three-quarters of farms in England and Scotland. Conservative Councillors warn that this could force families to sell land, threatening rural communities and undermining British farming.
Cllr Muzammil added:
“Our farmers protested, rallied, wrote to MPs, turned up to meetings — they did everything they could to be heard. And still, our MPs voted the other way. It’s heartbreaking to watch. This doesn’t just hurt farmers; it hurts all of us. It weakens our food security and makes us even more dependent on imports when we should be backing the people who feed this country.”
Cllr Muzammil concluded
“When residents vote for their MPs, they expect them to stand up for them. They put their trust and hope in them. Not to make promises you don’t ever intend to keep. People in Milton Keynes deserve better. I really hope that when the next election comes, people will think twice — because trust only works when it goes both ways.”
