SHARON HODGSON: ‘Tories are making life harder for people every day they are in office’

On Tuesday morning, the Tory Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng toured the TV studios arguing that the turmoil in the markets has nothing to do with this Government’s recent mini-budget. He couldn’t be more wrong. And it shows that he is the wrong person to be running this country’s finances.

In reality, Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget has crashed the economy through enormous unfunded tax cuts, leaving people in Sunderland worried as they face up to higher mortgages and soaring costs. Their economic incompetence has meant that mortgages are going up by £500 a month, while rents soar. They are making life harder for working people every day they are in office. They have damaged the UK's reputation on the global stage and left us all worse off.

Worse still, they act as if they will get away with it; like people can't see what they have done. I know that the public won’t forgive, and will not forget.

But another way is possible; a Labour Government would do things differently. We would put the interests of working people before cutting tax for the rich. We would scrap the Tory’s corporation tax cut that is handing £18 billion to some of the country's biggest companies and we would put a windfall tax on energy companies’ excess profits so we don't have to borrow more than we need to. With this plan, it has been proven beyond doubt that Labour is the party of sound money.

It can be easy to get lost in the financial jargon of Government budgets, but one thing is absolutely clear, this is a Tory crisis; made in Downing Street, paid for by working people. It's time for change.