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A Tory MP was branded "ignorant" today for claiming people have "thousands more in their pockets" during a debate on the Budget.

Rebecca Pow's local foodbank is giving out thousands of emergency parcels - and experts today warn Britain faces two 'lost decades' without wage growth.

But Ms Pow, the MP for Taunton Deane, Somerset, announced she's talked to locals in her constituency and they say things are just fine.

"The people in Taunton Deane speak to me and they’ve actually got more money in their pockets, which is what they want," she said.

"We have put up the national living wage, we have cut income tax by raising the personal allowance and again we have frozen fuel duty.

(Image: Parliament Live)

"So people have actually got thousands more in their pockets than they had under the Labour government."

Labour MPs howled in protest at the comment in the House of Commons, which Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said showed "ignorance".

And the organiser of the Taunton Foodbank told the Mirror: "Our figures say something very different".

Just weeks ago the charity, run by the wider Trussell Trust, announced it had given out 1,075 emergency food parcels in six months - a 40% rise on the previous year.

Project manager Sue Weightman said: "I wouldn't say on the whole people in the Taunton Deane area are better off."

Ms Pow's remarks came as Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell spoke during a debate on the Budget.

Mr McDonnell replied: "She’s displayed an ignorance about large numbers of people.

"Can I just suggest this to her - I don’t wish to be patronising.

"I just say that all of us who are on relatively high wages need to understand and be very careful when we talk about levels of income and levels of wealth.

(Image: Parliament Live)

"Four million of our children are actually living in poverty and two thirds of those children are living in households where someone is at work.

"That says something about low pay to me and it should do to all of us."

The Tories have almost doubled the income tax allowance from £6,475 to £11,850 since 2010, but have given a tax cut to £45,000 earners at the same time.

They have also raised the minimum wage for over-25s from £5.80 to £7.83, but are set to miss their target of making it £9 by 2020.

Fuel duty has been frozen for the seventh year in a row, saving motorists' bills but costing the Treasury £830m a year.

Meanwhile there have been sweeping cuts to public services, growth has been revised down, and public sector pay rises have been frozen for seven years.

Today the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said 'real terms' earnings will be lower in 2021 than they were in 2008.

Average earnings also look set to be nearly £1,400 lower by 2021 than they were forecast in March 2016, the IFS said.

"We are in danger of losing not just one but getting on for two decades of earnings growth," said the institute's director Paul Johnson.

Rebecca Pow said: "While there is always more to do, these are measures that leave more money in people’s pockets and I make no apology for welcoming them.”