JULIE ELLIOTT: It's going to be more of the same from Truss: we deserve better

She has a big job on her hands – we have seen energy prices rocket, wages stagnate, food prices rise and a country that is in desperate need of government action.

Labour are proposing to freeze energy bills funded by a windfall tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies, to ensure that we do not pass on the costs of more borrowing onto hard working people.

It is fully costed, and it ensures that those who are due to make billions, pay their fair share, firmly on the side of working people.

The Prime Minister however made it clear whose side she is on.

In her first speech outside Downing Street, she said that “now is the time to tackle that issues that are holding Britain back”.

So, who is it that has been holding Britain back?

Is it, as Liz Truss was quoted in 2019, the fault of British workers, who she said need “more graft” and that they lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals?

Or is it a Conservative government that has refused to stand on the side of British workers, that is letting prices rise, whilst protecting the profits of the big energy companies?

Let’s face it – Liz Truss is no different from Boris Johnson.

As Boris tried to change the rules to benefit his friends, and as he told Parliament that he did not party during lockdown when it was clear that he had, Liz Truss backed him the whole time.

This is the Prime Minister that a small number of Conservative members chose – and she now must face up to the challenges that Britain is facing after 12 years of Conservative government.

From energy costs, where the government is refusing to touch the excessive profits of the energy giants, to the rising prices of food and essentials, a dysfunctional transport system and a winter of workers having to fight for proper wages.

This is the result of choices made by successive Conservative governments – governments that the new Prime Minister has been a part of.

The Prime Minister might like to present herself as a new start, or a change in direction, but this is more of the same.

Twelve years of Conservative Government has led us to this point, where so many people in Sunderland are struggling to pay bills through no fault of their own. We deserve better.