It has been estimated that a staggering 16,983 adults living in Crawley Borough are already falling behind on household bills – and 9,435 have gone without food.  Those figures are only likely to get worse, too, after Friday’s disastrous Tory mini-budget, which has caused financial markets to crash, the pound plummeting to hit a 37 year low against the dollar, and real wages have fallen for 9 months in a row.

For those of us old enough to remember it, this looks and feels just like Black Wednesday all over again, but with Liz Truss as the new John Major.  The Tories have tanked the economy yet again.

This has consequences.  Research from the debt charity, Money Advice Trust, has found even before last week’s actions one in five adults in the UK had fallen behind on at least one household bill and one in nine have gone without eating.

After 12 years of Conservative rule, our country is in crisis. Wages are falling, the economy is on the brink of recession and our NHS is on its knees.

People are falling behind on their bills in Crawley, and almost everyone is finding it tough at the moment.

So it is staggering that the Conservatives’ plans to deal with the cost of living is to abolish the highest rate of income tax for those earning over £150,000 a year, lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses and resist a windfall tax on the bumper profits of oil and gas companies – meaning higher tax and borrowing for the rest of us.

This is an ideological budget purely designed to benefit the rich and no amount of window dressing from our Tory MP here in Crawley, or his friends, can disguise it.

After more than a decade in power the Conservatives have delivered nothing for the people of Crawley except an ailing economy, high taxes for those on low incomes and collapsing public services.

It has been twelve wasted years and caused needless suffering.  What is clear is we need a Labour government more than ever.

Cllr Michael Jones

Leader, Crawley Borough Council