Like me, you’ve probably been watching the Labour dramas with weary resignation. Less than 2 years in power, and we’re already witnessing the end of a premiership following repeated failures to deliver, broken promises and bad judgement.
How different to 2024. Labour positioned themselves as different, pledging to be above reproach and act in the national interest.
Instead, it has been plagued by scandals and ministerial resignations, starting with free clothes, glasses and rent-free use of Lord Ali’s £18 million penthouse. We’ve had the spectacle of the Prime Minister appointing then sacking Lord Mandelson as British Ambassador to the US, and questions around how much the Prime Minister influenced processes to get the man he wanted.
This Labour Government has been characterised by u-turns. Some welcome and hard fought for by Conservatives, but some are a result of calculated decisions to tell the British public one thing, and do something different when Labour got into Number 10.
Labour promised not to raise taxes on working people –but froze Income Tax thresholds so more people were pulled into paying tax and hiked Employers’ National Insurance, an effective tax on jobs. In Labour’s 2024 manifesto, there was no commitment to do away with the two-child benefit cap, but they did so anyway, and no mention of restricting jury trials, a right established over 700 years ago.
At the same time, Conservatives in Parliament have managed to make Labour reverse many bad decisions. Labour have been forced to u-turn on scrapping Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners, the Family Farm Tax and increasing Fuel Duty. The Conservatives also caused Labour to overturn their decision on cancelling local elections, and crucially, to release Mandelson files.
Meanwhile, economic growth has stagnated. Unemployment is on the rise, with youth unemployment now the highest it’s been in 11 years. The International Monetary Fund has warned that restraints on public spending are needed.
Regardless of which party is in Government I want the best for our country and Borough – clearly that is not what is going on now.
After less than 2 years, the wheels have come off the Labour bus. Even the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley has withdrawn her support for the Prime Minister, having previously promised “Keir Starmer will change the country”. Labour has let the public down, and it’s time they got a grip or called an election.
P.S. – Our Liberal Democrat MP has been at it again, peddling nonsense to residents. This time it’s about claims around the previous Conservative Government allocating money for a new Royal Berkshire Hospital. As has been repeatedly made clear, £22 million had already been spent by the Conservatives on the project and enabling works, before Labour came in and kicked it into the long grass. Our Liberal Democrat MP seems to interpret this as “only £22m” having been allocated to the rebuild, which is clearly not the same, as with all large projects money is drawn down in tranches as costs become clear.
It’s bizarre that, two years into a Labour Government, the local Liberal Democrat MP is focused on playing politics and point scoring. He should focus on delivering for the constituency, and holding Labour, who promised a new hospital would be built this parliament, to account for delaying the rebuild by a decade.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, leader of Wokingham Conservatives
