Despite today’s budget tax cuts (skewed to benefit the rich), overall tax is still going up and comes at the cost of lower funding for public services such as road maintenance and social care; and means less investment in the NHS and other services to cope with increasing demand. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the government’s spending watchdog, says the sums only add up on the assumption that in future years fuel duty is raised – which has not happened since 2011 – and public services are squeezed with further spending cuts and tax rises in the pipeline. That particularly hits areas like Mid Sussex where demand for public services is rising – government targets require us to take additional housing and with an increasing elderly population; yet funding to support this is scarce thanks to the Conservative’s misplaced priorities.