Angela Rayner found herself forced to defend the huge cost of living increases faced by the public as Jeremy Vine insisted the current situation is “unsustainable”. Speaking on his BBC Radio 2 show the presenter said: “We are very much looking at this month of the pain of actually today, which is April 1, and you’ve got energy bills up by an average of £111. Council Tax up by an average of £109. Water bills – it’s unreal. They put all the sewage in the sea, and then they raise their bills by 20%. Car tax up £5. Broadband bills up £36 on average. Phone bills up £46 on average. TV licence up £5. Nursery fees – because of the jobs tax you’ve brought in – up £756 pounds. It’s just unsustainable, isn’t it?” he challenged her.

“Well, prices do go up in April, but we’ve taken measures… you’ve mentioned council tax. We’ve made sure – the previous government, the last two years, their council tax rises were higher – we capped. We made sure that we protected working people from significant council tax rises, whilst also investing record levels into local government to put it on a sustainable footing,” she said.

“They (the public) listened to your election promises. You didn’t mention any of this. You said taxes would stay down. You’ve now gone for the taxes you didn’t mention. You’ve taken the winter fuel allowance away. I mean, I won’t go on…” Vine countered but was interrupted by Rayner.

“Just to tackle those point the winter fuel allowance protected the most vulnerable pensioners. Pensioners are better off because of our triple lock. So they are better off than what we’ve done,” Rayner insisted.

“We’ve…3million workers getting a pay rise today, some of the most vulnerable, insecure work. We said we’d tackle that. We’re doing that that will help local economies.

“People have more money in their pockets, and to stabilise work so that they can get on in life,” she said.

“And we put breakfast clubs in to help people with wrap around childcare who are working as well. We’re doing action on energy. It does take time, and we’re taking action to stabilise councils.

“This is 14 years of the mess that the Conservatives left behind. We’ve had eight months, and we’re already taking that action, and we’re building the homes that we need as well.

“We’re bringing we’re bringing growth into the market. Again, we’ve seen record investment. Nearly 200,000 jobs have been created since we were elected.

“So we are taking the action. It does take time, but I recognise your listeners frustration with the situation that we inherited,” she said.