The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer attacked the Government while visiting an Essex town.

Francis Maude, MP, said the Government had been "raising taxes by stealth". He made his remarks while visiting Braintree district Conservative headquarters in Witham yesterday.

Brooks Newmark, the constituency's prospective Parliamentary candidate, joined Mr Maude in explaining how the Conservatives are going to win back marginal seats lost at the last election like Braintree.

Mr Maude said: "It is a question of giving people a clear choice. The last Conservative government was portrayed as a government of high taxes, but we now see Labour raising taxes by stealth, taxes on savings and taxes on housing and all of this stealth tax is causing a lot of disillusionment.

"Anyone who is running a car is getting fed up with being treated like a criminal by the government."

Mr Newmark, aiming to overturn Labour MP Alan Hurst's 1,450 majority, added: "Generally we lost touch with the voters, and now we are out there talking to people and listening to people, rather than telling them what we think concerns them."

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