23 April (Part 1) - Another Motion. Electioneering again
I had in mind giving an opinion on all the outgoing Conservative Councillorss
and for Richard Diment I had reserved the word ‘Disappointing’.
He said that “it was ironic that in his last three weeks as a Councillor he was presenting his
first Motion. It is the fourth period of Labour Government I have had the
misfortune to live through. The first three all ended in rejection by the
electorate and I have no doubt the same thing will happen again. The difference
this time is the speed at which that disillusion about the ability of a Labour
Government to deliver its election promises has emerged. We were told that 2024
would be a new dawn. The Labour Party promised a Government of service, a
mission driven administration that would fix the foundation. Restore economic
stability and revitalise public service.”
“With a massive Parliamentary majority Kier Starmer had every opportunity to
deliver on that promise, yet looking at the landscape of our country in 2026 we
are not witnessing a national renewal, we are watching a slow motion car crash.
We have seen the fastest most chaotic reversal of fortunes for a new Government
in modern history. The Labour Party hasn’t just failed to deliver change, they
have in record time created a new era of disillusiionment. Today we must
confront the truth of this administration. It is a Government without a strategy
led by a Prime Minister without a purpose. And let’s start with the
cornerstone of their campaign in 2024. Economic competence.”
“They promised not to increase taxes on working people. That promise lasted about
as long as it took to cross the threshold of Downing Street. What did we get? We
got the largest tax burden in British history during peacetime. 38% of GDP. We
saw Rachel Reeves in her budget launch a war on business, hammering employers
with National Insurance increases, strangling growth and forcing business to
consider cutting jobs. They campaigned on growth, growth, growth yet growth has
been, to put it mildly, subdued.”
“The Office for Budget Responsibility has been forced to slash its growth
forecast while economic confidence has plummeted. Instead of fostering
innovation they chose to choke off enterprise with unnecessary regulation - and
there is more to come - and tax hikes leaving families struggling to pay the
bills and forcing more people on to benefits. Indeed changing the benefits
system to make it more attractive for some people to be on benefits than to be
working. The impact on our small businesses and on our high streets is devastating.”
The Mayor interrupted proceedings to reprimand a Labour Councillor for heckling.
“The Government has stoked a cost of living crisis leaving families with less
income after tax to chase ever rising prices. Pensioners with very modest
private pensions have found themselves dragged into income tax as the basic tax
allowance is now just £23 more than the state pension. And increasing numbers
are finding themselves paying higher rate taxation despite earning no more in
real terms following the Chancellor’s decision to freeze allowance bands until 2031.”
“Key economic indicators are flashing red. All of us understand the international
events are far from ideal at present but why are those affecting the UK so much
more vulnerable than others? Yesterday’s reports from the IMF which echoed a
recent report from the OECD predicted that the UK economy will see lower growth,
higher inflation than our partners in the G7 this year and probably next.”
“The Government is trapped in what economists are calling a statist doom loop.
They believe that they can tax a nation into prosperity. The reality is they are
draining the energy from the economy. Perhaps the most callous act of this
Government has been the treatment of the most vulnerable. In their first hundred
days they initiated the disgraceful cut to Winter Fuel Payments, stripping vital
warm homes support away from over ten million pensioners. This was not a
necessary fiscal move, it was a political choice to pay for union wage demands
while leaving elderly people in our country to choose between heating and eating.
Fortunately here in Bexley, we, or at least the Members on this side of the
Chamber, were able to help the most vulnerable with the much appreciated Bexley
Box scheme. And let us not forget the U-turns. The only thing consistent with
this Government is its inconsistency. When Ministers try to make sensible cuts
to the welfare budget, and I accept the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the
then Work and Pensions Secretary recognised the need to do so, they were met with
a rebellion from their own back benches.”
“Ministers have broken faith with pensioners and working families they claimed
to support as they are unable to deal with the opposition within their own government.”
“If the economy is failing and the vulnerable are abandoned what is the core
function of the state? All of us heard yesterday the damning comments from Lord
Robertson, a distinguished former Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary
General of NATO, accusing the Government of corrosive complacency towards this
country’s defence needs. The Labour Government promised secure borders. After
nearly two years in officce it is clear they have no plan to control illegal
immigration and as the weather improves another Summer will see thousands
putting their lives at risk to cross the channel in small boats.”
“Our police force is stretched and unable to tackle the key concerns of
residents. The Metropolitan Police run by Mayor Khan was uniquely unable to
recruit the full quota of police officers funded by the last Government and is
now embarking on another round of police station closures including
substantially reducing the opening hours here in Bexleyheath. And as if those
failures were not enough, the Labour Government’s planning policy supported by
Sadiq Khan and the Reform member on tthe London Assembly focuses on accelerating
development from top down targets. Key strategies include reforming grey belt
land and reducing local powers to make local decisions on what should be built
and where. This puts our Green Belt, our open spaces, our back gardens at risk.”
“Promises on health and Social Care have been broken. Problems with A&E waits,
securing GP appointments, getting to see a Consultant have not being tackled. In
the 1940s Aneurin Bevan said he had to stuff the consultants’ mouths with gold to
establish the NHS. At least Bevan succeeded. Wes Streeting has tried the same
approach with resident doctors, but as the latest strikes have shown, it isn’t working this time.”
“Adults’ Social Care reform has been kicked into the long grass and promised
local improvements have not been fully delivered. The Clinical Diagnostics
Centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital has been opened but not as a full time facility
promised by the previous Government, but as a part time operation because of the
financial mess the Government is making of health.”
“Election promises about sorting out the problems of Local Government have been
forgotten. As we heard from the Leader a few minutes ago we estimate that
actually funding for this Council is going to fall by between four
and nine million pounds during the current spending period and this year’s Local
Government settlement was predicated on Councils in almost all cases having to
increase Council Tax by the maximum permitted amount. More and more Local
Authorities have, fortunately not this one, been forced into exceptional
financial support, which brings me to the core problem. Leadership. We have a
Prime Minister who according to polling is among the most unpopular in history,
leading a party that was woefully neglectful of its preparation for power. This
is a Government that stumbles into battles unprepared. It is a Cabinet of
sluggish decision makers. We have seen a constant stream of scandals from
freebies for Ministers to the resignation of senior figures over misconduct.”
“So Madam Mayor to conclude. The Labour Government has had its chance and in two short
years they have broken their promise not to raise taxes, betrayed pensioners,
lost control of illegal immigration, failed on defence, on health, on social
care and on housing and displayed a level of administrative incompetence that
beggars belief. The change they promised was not this. The better promises
has proved to be an illusion, This Government is failing. It is time to say it
is enough. Thank you very much.”
Damn! Now I will have to drop the word Disappointing from any future end of term school
report on outgoing Councillors. On the other hand it is Richard Diment who
has sought to attack motorists with ever more Yellow Money Box traps, increased
parking charges and well above inflation increases to the Brown Bin Tax. Exactly
what a Labour Government would do.