Earlier this week, Goerge Osborne claimed the Conservatives were now the “true party of labour,” in an attempt to snatch votes from the opposition. But are they really the workers’ party? Their record in government and their plans for the future would suggest otherwise. Here are six reasons why the Conservatives are not the party of work:

1. Extensive cuts to tax credits

George Osborne announced extensive cuts to working tax credits and child tax credits in his July budget. Despite his claim that the announcement of a National Living Wage (which will be set at £7.20 starting from April next year, and not £7.85 – the actual living wage) will compensate for the cuts to tax credits, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) concluded that 3 million families will be £1,000 worse off every year as a result.

2. The benefits freeze

In the same budget, it was announced that most benefit rates will be frozen for four years. The IFS also did analysis on the impact this would have, and calculated that 13 million families will be £260 worse off every year due to the changes.

3. Making it harder for workers to strike

The Conservative’s Trade Union Bill also contradicts the claim that they are now the party for working people as it would allow the use of agency workers which would completely undermine any industrial action. It also doubles the amount of notice workers have to give employers (from seven days to fourteen) and could result in a £20,000 fine on unions if they continually fail to ensure supervisors wear an official armband.

4. A record number of working families are now living in poverty

In 2014, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation discovered that low-paid jobs are leaving record numbers of working families in poverty. Two-thirds of people taking jobs in 2014 were being paid less than the living wage, the report stated, leaving many families struggling to get by.

5. There are now 744,000 people on zero-hour contracts

The Office for National Statistics reported last month that 744,000 people are now on insecure zero-hour contracts. This figure means the number of people on these contracts rose by an incredible 19% in just one year, demonstrating the government’s failure to create new, secure jobs.

6. The Tories’ have presided over the longest fall in living standards for 50 years

The Office for National Statistics published a report in January 2014 that revealed the longest prolonged decline in living standards for at least half a century. It reported that real wages have been falling since 2010 – when the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition came to power – which constitutes the longest period since at least 1964.

Therefore, by launching an attack on trade unions, punishing the working poor and failing to create secure jobs, it is apparent that the Tories’ are not the “true party of labour” that they claim to be. No amount of rebranding can conceal their miserable record with regard to helping Britain’s workers.

By Ryan Curran