An East Lancashire MP has vowed not to back the Chancellor's upcoming Autumn statement if it contains any increase in taxes.

MP for Rossendale and Darwen, Sir Jake Berry, along with a group of 33 Conservative MPs, including former prime minister Liz Truss and ex-home secretary Priti Patel, has signed a pledge vowing to not 'vote for or support any new taxes that increase the overall tax burden'.

Sir Jake – chair of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs said: "It is not right that the tax burden keeps increasing.

“This is not the fault of any one government but the political system that believes you can tax your way to growth. You cannot.

“This is why we as MPs, whose job it is to vote over whether tax should go up or down, are making a stand to make it clear that we will not vote for further tax rises that increase the tax burden.

“I believe in my constituents and their ability to spend their own money.”

It comes as the current Parliament, by 2025, will have presided over the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War, experts have said.

By the time of the next general election, taxes will likely have risen to around 37 per cent of national income, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The widely respected think tank said that the spike was equivalent to around £3,500 more per household, even if in reality it will not be shared equally.

Since comparable records began in the 1950s, no parliament has seen a bigger increase in taxes.

Tory MPs have long complained about the unwillingness of Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to contemplate tax cuts, with backbench complaints about current levels of tax.

The pair have instead stressed the need for fiscal responsibility amid still-high inflation.

But Mr Hunt is likely to face pressure to announce tax cuts, if not in the upcoming autumn statement, then at least before the next nationwide poll.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “Despite needing to take the difficult decisions to restore public finances in the face of the dual shocks of the pandemic and Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the latest data shows our tax burden will remain lower than any major European economy.

“Driving down inflation is the most effective tax cut we can deliver right now, which is why we are sticking to our plan to halve it, rather than making it worse by borrowing money to fund tax cuts.

“We have also taken three million people out of paying tax altogether since 2010 through raising personal thresholds, and the Chancellor has said he wants to lower the tax burden further – but has been clear that sound money must come first.”