The new year is a time for reflection, and there’s a lot to reflect on from 2024 – particularly for politicians like me who lost seats in the general election, and for the Conservative Party more generally.
It’s also a time to reflect on the legacy Conservative governments leave across Cumbria – projects from our Town Deals, High Street Funds and Levelling Up Funds springing up everywhere; council budgets at their highest level ever in real-terms; and the largest transport infrastructure projects we’ve seen for generations, just waiting for the final go-ahead.
But I also hope that this Labour government will reflect on some of the disastrous policies it has introduced in such a short space of time, that have taken a wrecking ball to our economy, ultimately increasing the cost of living for people across Cumbria.
There is still time for Rachel Reeves to reverse the attacks on our communities - the Family Farm Tax that will see Cumbrian farms broken up and built over, destroying generations of hard work and reducing our food security; the double-cab pickup tax that affects not only smaller farmers but also our local tradesmen; the National Insurance hike that will see unemployment rise; the policy to make the UK the first country in Europe to tax education, harming SEND students particularly; the cuts to council funding here in Cumbria; the cut to the Winter Fuel Payment for tens of thousands of local pensioners; and the cut to Sellafield funding which will impact our local economy and delay the critical mission of reducing legacy hazards.
I hope that the current occupants of Downing Street will reflect on the fact that 10-year gilts – a proxy measure of confidence in the government’s economic policy – are at a sustained level higher than the spike of October 2022, during which they attacked the then Prime Minister for ‘wrecking the economy’. While they inherited the fastest-growing economy in the G7, inflation and target, and interest rates expected to fall rapidly, Labour’s policies are now keeping mortgage rates higher for longer, increasing the cost of living, and will make life more expensive for us here in West Cumbria.
They’ve also abandoned their pledge to cut our energy bills, so oft-repeated by our local MPs during the campaign. In a time when politicians aren’t universally regard as paragons of truth, the current crop seem intent on destroying their contract with the electorate entirely.
But there is time to change course, and no shame in doing so. The new year also gives us chance for a fresh start – a chance to stop the student union politics of envy that has led to such rapid decline, and to look instead to a positive future.
