The majority of the public do not think Labour is doing enough to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, new polling shows. The findings are a fresh blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of Wednesday’s Budget as Britons brace for tax hikes.

Some 82% of respondents to the Techne survey said the Government is not taking enough action to get a grip on the cost of living. An overwhelming 91% said the issue should be a top priority for the Government in the poll of 1,001 people carried out from October 28 to November 6. Meanwhile, over half – 55% – said the Chancellor should cut or freeze excise duties in her Budget to help ease the pressure on households.

Tory peer Lord Mackinlay warned that Ms Reeves will blame “anything and anyone” but herself for tax rises.

Writing in the Daily Express, he said: “While we are none the wiser about her plans at the Budget, tariffs, inflation, Brexit, growing government debt, defence spending, the benefits bill, and a lack of productivity were all name-checked as being to blame. Anything and anyone but her.

“Her repeated insistence that she would ‘do what is necessary, not what is popular’ is Whitehall code for a painful Budget.

“For the ordinary working Brit, the rhetoric is of little comfort. The cost-of-living crisis may have faded from the front pages, but in millions of households, the reality is stark: frozen tax thresholds that will quietly drag more people into higher rate bands as wages rise over time, obviously only if you’re lucky enough to keep or find a job amongst the crumbling economy.

“Duties on everyday items – tobacco, alcohol and almost certainly road fuel will rise.”

It comes after the Chancellor called for Labour MPs to back her tax-hiking Budget in a meeting with backbenchers.

Ms Reeves told her party’s MPs that the statement will focus on three priorities: “Cutting the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting the cost of debt.”