This budget is a very bad budget for the working families of the Isle of Man.

The Isle of Man Government’s decision to slug workers with a ten per cent increase in income tax rates is bad for the working families of the Isle of Man. It means up to £20 million of extra money will be taken from worker pay on the Isle of Man.

Keeping the personal allowance so low – when inflation has surged over the last few years – means that the lowest-paid workers in our community will suffer from the biggest increases in these tax rates.

Finally, it remains extraordinary that these big attacks on working Manx families were revealed to the public shortly after 10am today, and might well be smashed through Tynwald by politicians by 10pm today.

Michael Josem serves as a Director of the Manx TaxPayers' Alliance and a volunteer for various other community groups in the Isle of Man.