Voters in Peterlee speak of betrayal and anger

'There's bits and pieces of this and that but I don't see any coherent drive for growth," said an underwhelmed Labour stalwart, David TaylorGooby, about Rachel Reeves's budget.

- Mark Brown

"They need more backbone.

They need to have a sense of moral purpose.

They need to sort the economy out." Taylor-Gooby, 80 and a former Labour councillor, is originally from Watford but has lived in Peterlee, County Durham, for more than 40 years.

Peterlee is a town patently disillusioned with Labour. It is in a constituency, Easington, which was once one of Labour's safest seats, a place it could never lose. Incredibly, if there were a general election today Reform would have a 99% chance of unseating the current MP, Grahame Morris, according to the pollsters Electoral Calculus.

No one on a bitterly cold grey Wednesday thought the budget had boosted Labour's fortunes.

Taylor-Gooby said the local Labour party branch was "totally demoralised", as were branches across the country, struggling to get people to stand for positions.

Labour members want to see more vision, he said.