Sally Allen: Labour is running out of time on the economy

I can honestly say that I felt that the country desperately needed a change of direction by the time the general election was held last year. 

We had gone through 14 years of lackluster governance, and not all of it can be blamed on Covid and the Ukraine. 

We had far too many changes of leader for starters, and it seems that just when Sunak had got a handle on the economy, he made the disastrous mistake of going to the country far earlier than he needed to. The examples of shocking judgement are endless.

Then we began an even more traumatic and, so far, disastrous administration. The leader is, in my opinion, the least inspirational that we have ever had and clearly no amount of voice training is going to turn him into an even passable orator! 

Add to this the hapless ‘Rachel from Accounts’ who is aiming to kick start economic growth in “every corner of the UK”. 

Sadly impossible with the increase in national insurance and the lack of any business experience or acumen on the front bench, I personally don’t believe she stands a cat in hell chance of succeeding. 

Sadly, she just doesn’t get it. In July 2024, upon assuming office, the Labour government reported discovering a £22 billion shortfall in the UK's public finances, attributing it to the previous Conservative administration. 

By October 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves informed the cabinet that the fiscal gap had expanded to £100 billion over the subsequent five years. 

This indicates an increase of £78 billion in the projected fiscal shortfall over a three-month period. 

I am not sure if she was good at money sums at school, but in my book that is a massive increase in the supposed amount of debt that they said was so shocking for them to find when they took office.

We are very quickly sliding down the toilet to yet more doom and gloom. I sincerely wish that there was something more positive to say about our fragile economy. So far Labour major is in rhetoric and zero in common sense.

Added to the economy in the toilet, it now appears that democracy has joined it by Angela Rayner’s frankly Orwellian so-called reforms by putting off local elections for 5.7 million registered voters this May. 

They are clearly running scared of the Reform party which is gathering massive support. Put simply, if those who have the right to vote on May 1 can’t vote, then why should they pay Council Tax?

Down in our neck of the woods the pantomime continues apace with the debates regarding Rayner’s other wheeze of Devolution across the country. The worst part of this proposed re-organisation is that if all the relevant parties in Devon and Cornwall can’t come to agreement, the Government will just step in and say exactly what is to happen. 

So not too much democracy on display, but when you have such a significant majority you can push through whatever measure you like. 

So, our future lies in the hands of the present Councillors to make the right choices. I don’t envy them those decisions, but neither do I trust them to necessarily make the right ones either.

So, in summary, be careful what you wish for as maybe the devil you know might be better in the long run, but how can you ever know?

Labour promised to clean up politics, but then took loads of dodgy freebies, handed jobs to their mates, and approved contracts for major donors. 

They said their top priority was growth, but now they’re tanking the economy. They vowed not to raise taxes but then hit us with £40bn in tax hikes. 

They said they would freeze energy bills but now energy bills are rising. 

They said they'd stop the boats but then scrapped our only deterrent and immigration figures have now gone through the roof. 

They promised they’d look after farmers and then laid an extra Inheritance tax on them. 

They claimed they’d keep us safe and be tough on crime and then released dangerous criminals from our prisons instead of deporting foreign offenders. 

They said they would respect Brexit but appear to be aligning us closer to the EU. Add to this the shocking way that they have treated vulnerable pensioners, and you have a very sad indictment of proven incompetence and shamefully, even lies. 

Once again, we see no honour or commitment to helping the public in the Government’s actions.

The so-called asylum seekers are mostly not fleeing war zones but are looking for a better life with more financial possibilities.

I don’t blame them for that, but their idea of a better existence financially seems to be living off benefits which we all pay for. 

We simply don’t have the infrastructure to deal with all these people and it is bringing our country very quickly to its knees as we are unable to give endless financial support to so many people. 

I can honestly say that I have never taken a handout from anyone, including the state, but I have been up against it on a few occasions, so I know what it is like to struggle. The benefits we offer to anyone arriving illegally in this country are no longer valued, because they are all too easily given. In life we rarely appreciate anything that comes easily. At some point we just have to say NO, otherwise we can never look after the residents already in this country. 

There are businesses now closing in vast numbers every day. Surely this should raise alarm bells in Westminster? 

If our businesses are not thriving, they are not paying taxes ergo: less money in Government coffers, but the current Government is making it impossible for businesses to flourish as they should, due to the draconian taxes and red tape throttling them. The result of this is of course, more unemployment and more people claiming benefits. The Government is playing Russian roulette with our futures.

I class myself as a caring capitalist, as without people making money, it is impossible to look after the weaker and poorer in our community as we should. So, Starmer, Reeves and Rayner please don’t forget that timing is everything and you are running out of it to stimulate what is fast becoming a dead economy.