£2.3b more in income tax and insurance per week under Labour

Gordon Brown has added the equivalent of 7p in the pound to the income tax paid by every worker since Labour came to power, it has emerged.

In total, Britain's 29 million workers are paying £2.3 billion more income tax and National Insurance each week than they were in 1997.

Before Labour came to power, the two taxes were worth £115billion a year, but this has since doubled to £230 billion.

Maurice Fitzpatrick, of accountants Grant Thornton, blamed the fact that thresholds for the amount exempt from tax are raised in line with prices, rather than earnings growth. This means personal allowances rise much more slowly than salaries, trapping workers into paying more tax.