As with many Government announcements these days, the Spending Review was trailed heavily in advance.

Weeks ago, we heard the Government was considering U-turning on the winter fuel payment cut. Days later, rumours abounded about cuts to police funding.

Just seven days before the Spending Review, we learnt the Chancellor was awarding billions of pounds of investment in transport infrastructure in the Midlands, the North, and the West Country.

But, as we neared the June 11th date, we’d heard very little about rural England, and in particularly, the South West.

During a question to the Chief Secretary at the Treasury, I reminded the Government that the South West doesn’t begin and end in Bristol. He assured me that the Government was aware of that. When the Spending Review came, he was proved right; for the Government the South West isn’t only Bristol but Swindon too.

Aside from these two locations, there was very little in the Chancellor’s statement for the South West, and virtually nothing for the rural areas within it. Funding for transport for rural areas was just a seventh of that offered to city regions. Clearly, the Government’s focus remains on Labour run cities in the north of England.

This is deeply disappointing. The number of bus journeys in Devon has fallen by 40% since 2015, and in many areas of South Devon, communities have been left behind by unreliable, infrequent, or inadequate bus services. Many villages have no bus service at all, while others feel lucky to get one a day.

Investing in rural transport won’t just alleviate today’s pressures; it will build tomorrow’s workforce. Ireland has shown us what is possible: rural bus use there has increased fivefold since 2018 after the Irish Government invested in rural transport and created new services where they were needed.

That is the kind of ambition we needed from the Chancellor; unfortunately, it was nowhere to be seen. But my concerns with the Spending Review aren’t limited to a lack of money for rural areas. I also worry about how we are going to pay for the additional funding the Chancellor set out.

Although not mentioned in the speech, within the Spending Review document its suggests that council tax is expected to rise by 5% a year to pay for local services. That’s because the review only allocated a 1.1% increase in grant funding, despite total spending power for councils needing to rise by 2.6%.

Remember rural residents already pay higher average council tax per head despite receiving fewer services. Increasing tax risks increasing rural deprivation and driving a big divide between rural and urban areas.

Sadly, the Government continues to ignore Liberal Democrat growth-creating measures, like a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union or increasing tax on big banks and social media giants.

Being responsible for the public finances does not only mean taking the tough decision but the right ones too. A year into office, Labour are still not doing this.