In Liz Truss’ 45 days in power she introduced a botched budget which plunged the markets into chaos, sacked her Chancellor, and now has admitted defeat and resigned herself.
It is abundantly clear that this Conservative government does not have a plan to grow our economy or to help hard-working people through the cost of living crisis.
People are angry, fed up and worried about the future. My inbox is full of emails from families and pensioners who are already making tough decisions to make ends meet. Parents are skipping meals to make sure they can feed their children, cold pensioners are resolutely refusing to turn their heating on. One man contacted me to say that he stopped buying baking potatoes because they cost too much to cook. That is the stark reality facing millions of people across the country.
Thousands of people are facing increased mortgage costs and rising prices at the checkouts. The latest inflation figures show the cost of living went up 10.1% in the 12 months to September, driven mostly by rising food prices. Prices are rising at their fastest rate for 40 years. For pensioners and those living on benefits, this is truly terrifying news.
On top of skyrocketing inflation, already struggling health services and local councils are braced to have their spending slashed. Councils are working incredibly hard to support people where they can. In Oxfordshire, they are opening up Libraries as welcoming and warm places for people to spend time if they are in need. But local authorities cannot be expected to plug holes in the economy and fill gaps in services with drastically reduced budgets.
And what was the government’s plan? Recklessly borrowing billions of pounds to finance unfair tax cuts for the wealthiest, doing nothing to grow our economy. Following that botched budget, Truss tried to restore credibility by sacking Kwasi Kwarteng, but the ideas were as much her own. It took her another 27 days to finally step down. This sorry soap opera of Conservative Party in-fighting is only serving to prolong the chaos and deepen our economic turmoil.
Jeremy Hunt, as the latest resident at Number 11, has not shown that he is bringing anything different to the table. He might have taken a wrecking ball to Kwarteng’s plans, but this is still the same old Conservative Party. Their failed economic experiment has already cost this country billions and Jeremy Hunt expects ordinary people to pay the price for those mistakes. He has already warned that taxes will be going up, and public spending squeezed.
What the country needs is not just a new Chancellor, or a new Prime Minister, but an end to the Conservative Party’s reckless mismanagement of the economy. They are out of ideas and completely out of touch. Our country deserves so much better.
This government refuses to create a proper Windfall Tax on the record profits of the oil and gas giants to fund support for those struggling with soaring energy bills. There is no investment in skills and training, no extra support for local businesses, and no extra money for schools, hospitals or the police.
The way we should grow the economy is by giving people skills training and fixing labour shortages; supporting our high streets by cutting business rates; investing in green technologies; and bringing down trade barriers.
This is the Liberal Democrat plan for a fair deal for everyone.
It says everything about the state of the Conservative party that they only consider changing course when the markets force them to, not because the electorate wants them to. More than anything, people are angry that the Conservatives think this is an acceptable way to govern.
It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy.
Whoever the Conservatives crown as their new leader will have no mandate from the country. It is high time we let the people have their say.
It’s time for a General Election.
Layla Moran is the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and the party’s spokesperson for foreign affairs and international development.