From Conservative MPs’ attempts to protect Owen Paterson from corruption allegations, to apparently regular law breaking at Number 10 throughout the pandemic, to new revelations of ministers being fired just for being Muslim, our Government appears to be stuck in permanent crisis.

Even in ordinary times this would be a huge problem, but at a time when tens of millions of British households are struggling to keep their heads above water, for the Prime Minister to be so utterly focused on his own survival that he ignores their plight of the nation is totally unforgivable.

This week Richard Waler, managing director of Iceland, warned that his store was now losing customers, not to competitors, but to food banks and hunger. From the numbers it’s not hard to see why. While the rate inflation describes the overall increase in prices across the market, there can be substantial variations between different types of goods and many food essentials have seen their prices increase by over 300% in the course of a single year.

The reality is Conservative policy is turning back the clock to a poverty not seen since the era of Victorian slums. We need action, right now, to arrest the out of control increases in the cost of living and the best place to start would be tackling the cost of energy so families don’t have to choose between heating and eating.

Labour is pushing for a one one-off cut in VAT on energy, funded by a windfall tax on North oil and gas firms who have profited from the price rises. This temporary measure would help families to get past the period of peak prices, saving households in Crawley £200 on average. At the same time, Labour would increase the reach of the Warm Home’s Discount, taking up to £600 off of the energy bills of around 17,000 Crawley households, helping them get through the winter.

The problems Britain faces aren’t unsurmountable, they simply require a Government which genuinely cares about the situations facing regular families in town’s like ours, rather than solely on fulfilling their own personal desires.

Cllr Peter Lamb, Leader Crawley Borough Council.