Lack of help from Rishi Sunak for struggling UK families will push 1.3m into poverty

Resolution Foundation says it will be first large increase in number of people pushed into poverty outside of a recession

Rishi Sunak's spring statement will push 1.3 million people - including half a million children - below the poverty line next year while raising tax to the highest level since the second world war, according to leading economists.

The chancellor's spring statement on Wednesday offered some tax cuts, such as 5p-a-litre off fuel duty and a 3,000 increase in the threshold for national insurance contributions, but came in for widespread criticism for failing to support poorer families and other vulnerable groups from the soaring cost of living.