The past year has seen a weak Rishi Sunak pushed around by a chaotic and divided Conservative Party which has presided over the biggest hit to household finances in living memory.

In the past 18 months, we have had 3 Prime Ministers, 3 Chancellors, 5 Home Secretaries and 4 Health Secretaries, alongside innumerable chopping and changing at the top of government.  

The result of all of this and the culmination of 13 years of mismanagement by the Tories, is a tax burden at the highest rate since the second world war, household incomes 3.5% lower than pre-pandemic levels and price rises at an all-time high. Since October 2021, food prices have risen by 30%, gas prices by 60% and electricity prices by 40%.

Behind every one of these statistics is a real family, many who are struggling badly.  

This Christmas, 6.5 million people will struggle to heat their homes sufficiently. And to make matters worse, typical households will face a 5% rise in their energy bills when prices rise again in January.

We simply cannot afford another five years of Conservative government.  

The impact of the Tories’ policies are laid bare by the number of people having to access foodbanks across the country. Between April and September this year, the Trussell Trust distributed nearly 1.5 million emergency food parcels, the most they have ever distributed at this point in the year and a 16% increase compared to last year.

Charities like our local food banks are the best of society. They step up and give households the support they desperately need.

Only Labour can be trusted to get the British economy going again and reduce the financial burden on families. Labour will provide a decade of national renewal to replace 13 years of national decline.  

The Tories are not on the side of working people. Rishi Sunak is out of touch and too weak to take on the extremists in his party.

Crawley can no longer afford a Conservative government. Change is the question at the next election and the answer is Labour.

Cllr Michael Jones,

Leader, Crawley Borough Council