Because for all the spin we heard in the Commons yesterday, the reality is this: Jeremy Hunt is desperately trying to deal with the economic mess his own party created and has spent the last year railing against the consequences of his own party’s 13 years of failure. And it won’t wash with the public. Everyone knows that the Tories simply can’t be trusted to deliver economic competence. After 13 years of failure under the Conservatives, working people are worse off. Prices are still rising in the shops, energy bills are up and mortgage payments are higher after the Conservatives crashed the economy. The economy is now forecast to be £40bn smaller by 2027 than the Chancellor said back in March. Here’s another number for the Chancellor: 25. That’s 25 Tory tax rises since 2019, with households paying £4000 more in tax each year than they did in 2010. Despite yesterday’s announcements, the Conservatives remain the party of high tax because it is the party of low growth. He has only lowered the Tory tax burden on working people from a historic 80-year high to a 70- year high offsetting any small benefit with tax threshold freezes. The Chancellor proclaims that “this will be an autumn statement for growth”, but today’s forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has downgraded projected growth for 2024, 2025 and 2026. Yesterday’s autumn statement was no different from all other Tory budgets - it has done the exact opposite of what was intended. At a time when the Government is taking more from working people than ever before but delivering less. Hunt has offered the public a measly 1 per cent per year increase for our public services. That means huge cuts. Public services are on their knees and it’s clear the economy is heading in the wrong direction. Not to mention the Tory mortgage crisis that is still costing people thousands a year. With an election on the horizon, Hunt and Sunak are more concerned about tomorrow’s headlines than they are about a long-term plan for the country.And when the dust settles, people will rightly ask themselves are they better off today than when the Tories took power. The answer is no. And when they look at the state of our cherished public services, have they improved? Also no. Make no mistake, The Conservatives are the party of high taxes, low growth, low wages and high prices. The Chancellor claims the economy has ‘turned a corner’, yet the truth is that under the Conservatives it’s hit a dead end. What was laid bare yesterday was the full scale of the damage that this government has done over 13 years. And nothing that has been announced today will remotely compensate. They crashed the economy and have damaged public services. They simply cannot be trusted. In stark contrast, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the Labour Party is ready to deliver for the country. It is Labour which is now the party of fiscal responsibility, of business and the party with a plan to make working people better off. Call that general election.
