Two weeks ago, Liz Truss became the fourth Tory Prime Minister in 12 years of ruin, at a time when the country faces extreme challenges, meaning residents will struggle to eat and heat their homes this winter and many local businesses will find it impossible to continue.
Unfortunately, she has said nothing to give Labour councillors any confidence that she is up to the scale of those challenges, created by years of Tory mismanagement.
In fact, Truss is on record blaming the country’s woes on British people not working hard enough!
The former Shell employee says a windfall tax on her old bosses “sends the wrong message”.
But her alternative to address the energy crisis represents a failure for both residents and local businesses.
Instead of backing Labour plans to freeze energy bills, and fund this through a windfall tax on oil and gas suppliers enjoying record profits, Truss will allow bills to increase to an average of £2,500.
Some will be much higher and still triple where they were only last year.
The cap, lasting just two years for households and six months for businesses, will be paid for through government borrowing.
The incoming Prime Minister had a clear choice – protect workers and businesses with a windfall tax or protect astronomical profits raked in by oil and gas companies and force taxpayers to foot the bill. Unfortunately, she chose the latter.
Some 6.7 million UK households face fuel poverty. How many more will when bills rise further?
The Treasury estimates oil and gas companies are set to make a whopping £170 billion in unexpected windfall taxes over the next two years.
The head of BP has described the current energy crisis as a “cash machine” for his company – and it’s ordinary households on the other end of that cash machine.
The PM could have taxed those unexpected and unearned windfall profits to fund fuel poverty relief and help smaller businesses.
Instead, she has protected those profits, meaning British taxpayers will foot the bill – for a second time – through future taxes and borrowing costs.
Local businesses and charities meanwhile, only benefit from a six-month price cap guarantee. Where is the certainty our local businesses need to keep the lights on?
Truss is not the answer to the mess 12 years of Tory rule have put our city and country in.
Not even a fortnight into the job and she has failed the first test of her premiership, proving once again that the change we need is not at the top of the Conservative Party, it’s a Labour government.
Councillor Amanda Evans is deputy leader of the opposition Labour group on Brighton and Hove City Council.
The way we are governed needs urgent and massive reform,
Most politicians including Labour are not fit for purpose.
Truss and Kwarteng need locking up