The seasons may change, some things stay the same.
As the nights draw in and we reach for our coats, they’re cold comfort from the cost of living crisis has been inflamed by the Conservatives’ kamikaze budget.
This weekend’s pitiful sniping, name calling and hollow calls for unity were a national embarrassment, but more importantly, a national let down.
No responsibility taken. No contrition. And very little mention of the fear that so many people are suffering as a direct response of Liz Truss’ choices.
We’ve seen it before.
This summer while people and industries were pushed to the brink and calling for help, the Conservatives were tearing themselves apart in a vicious leadership contest that became an arms race of unfunded tax cuts.
They seem to have got a taste for it. Because so far infighting and unfunded borrowing are the two hallmarks of the Truss government.
In the summer, the Labour Party provided the ideas and the leadership our country needed, with a fully funded practical plan to freeze energy bills, paid for by a windfall tax on oil giants.
The Conservatives were dragged kicking and screaming to act. Only their price freeze wasn’t paid for by oil and gas producers swimming in excess profits. No. Theirs is paid for by you. Through more borrowing.
As parliament returns, so much is familiar.
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini Budget resembled two out of control gamblers at a casino, chasing a losing run. Borrowing at the expense of working people. Prioritising the richest.
Irresponsible Tory management of your money.
Private pensions in jeopardy.
The pound dropping like a stone.
The mortgage market emptying, and costs soaring, in many cases, by hundreds of pounds a month. It’s terrifying.
For generations, home ownership has been a British dream, but because of the Conservatives it is becoming a costly nightmare.
And their answer? Scrapping like cats in a sack.
No apology, no responsibility, just a list of desperate excuses blaming everything from Putin, the timing of the Queen’s funeral to the Bank of England.
The country knows this catastrophic Conservative Budget was made in Downing Street. This week, the Conservative leadership needs to halt their soap opera, put aside political pride and think of the people paying the price.
And Conservative MPs need to wake up and tune into the reality their constituents are facing. Join us in demanding the PM and Chancellor abandon their kamikaze budget, and admit the season is changing.
