A South Cumbrian MP has slammed the chancellor’s budget as ‘cloth-eared’.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, criticised Jeremy Hunt’s budget and stated ‘it didn’t mention Cumbria’.

The budget contained a 2p cut to National Insurance which according to Mr Hunt will be worth £450 a year for the average worker, a non-dom tax break was abolished and alcohol duty was also frozen.

Mr Farron said: “Many can’t afford a home to stay, work and raise a family in the area they grew up in. And they are furious that our precious lakes and rivers are being polluted with sewage.

“Today’s cloth-eared Conservative budget addresses none of this and it is telling about how little this Government cares about our area that he didn’t mention Westmorland or Cumbria once in his hour-long speech.”

Other proposals announced included raising the earnings threshold for child benefit to £60,000 from £50,000, the windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies was extended until 2029, and the Household Support Fund for families in England was extended for six months.

The chancellor also revealed the repayment period for new government loans for people on benefits will be doubled, a duty on vapes will be introduced from October 2026 and there will be a one-off increase in tobacco duty to recognise the role vapes play in helping people to quit smoking.

Mr Hunt said: “Making work pay is of the most fundamental importance because we believe that the double taxation of work is unfair.

“Our long -term ambition is to end this unfairness. When it is responsible, when it can be achieved without increasing borrowing and when it can be delivered without compromising high quality public services, we will continue to cut national insurance as we have done today so we truly make work pay.

“Madam Deputy Speaker we stick to our plan with a Budget for Long Term Growth. It delivers more investment more jobs better public services and lower taxes.

“But dynamism in an economy doesn’t come from ministers in Whitehall, it comes from the grit and determination of people who take risks, work hard and innovate. Not government policies but people power. It is to unleash that people power that we have today put this country back on the path to lower taxes.”

The chancellor also scrapped the furnished holiday lettings scheme where landlords previously benefited from tax breaks.

Mr Hunt said: “I am concerned that this tax regime is creating a distortion meaning that there are not enough properties available for long term rental by local people.

“So, to make the tax system work better for local communities, I am going to abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime.”

Here is a list of some of the key proposals

A cut in national insurance from 10% by 8% could save the average worker £450 a year, adding up to a £900 saving for 27 million employees when combined with a cut last autumn.

Maintain the 5p cut and freeze fuel duty for a further 12 months.

An alcohol duty freeze will also continue until February 2025, with the Chancellor claiming this would help 38,000 pubs across the UK.

The windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas producers will be extended until 2029, with the aim of raising £1.5 billion in tax.

The special tax status for non-domiciled individuals in the UK, which allows them to pay tax on only their UK earnings, will be abolished. It will be replaced with a simpler system from April 2025, which Mr Hunt said would be more generous for the first four years, with non-doms having to pay more tax after that point.

An NHS productivity plan costing £3.4 billion will meanwhile be funded in full, with the aim of improving the health services IT systems to free up the time of doctors and nurses.

The earnings threshold for child benefit will be raised to £60,000, from £50,000

The repayment period for new government loans for people on benefits will be doubled

A duty on vapes will be introduced from October 2026 to protect young people and children from the harm of vaping, alongside a one-off increase in tobacco duty to recognise the role vapes play in helping people to quit smoking.

The chancellor also scrapped the furnished holiday lettings scheme where landlords previously benefited from tax breaks.