The phrase is commonly used by all parties but its meaning has come under scrutiny before next week’s budget

It is a phrase that crops up 21 times in the Labour manifesto, 12 times in the Conservative manifesto, and has been used in the Commons more than 3,500 times in the last decade. So, surely everyone knows what “working people” are – don’t we?

Perhaps not. In the buildup to next week’s budget there has been ever-increasing scrutiny and a parallel lack of clarity about what Labour’s manifesto commitment to not raise taxes on “working people” actually means in practice.