Labour's false narrative on the public finances and the economy - don't fall for it

 

As a seasoned observer over the decades, I’ve become accustomed to seeing political spin and the peddling of false narratives. But, even I, have been taken aback by what I’ve seen since the new Labour government came into office.

Make no mistake, what we are seeing now is a concerted spinning operation to rewrite recent history and create a false narrative about pretty much everything that has been passed to the Labour government from the previous Conservative government.

Labour falsely claims they've inherited the worst set of circumstances since the Second World War. To prove them wrong, you don't have to go back to 1945, you only have to go back to 2010. When the Conservatives took over from Labour in 2010, unemployment was at 8.0%. In the 14 years since, it was nearly halved by the Conservatives to 4.4%. 

Every Labour government there has ever been, has left office with higher unemployment than when they took office and I’ll make a prediction now, that this one will do exactly the same.In 2010, the government budget deficit was at 10.3% of GDP thanks to Labour's reckless borrowing. Labour inherits a much-reduced deficit at 4.4% and it’s forecast to fall to 1.2% in the next few years. In 2010 inflation was at 3.4%. It's now at 2.0%, the Bank of England target. Labour have also inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 and twelve months of wages growing more than inflation.

Since the Conservatives established the independent Office of Budget Responsibility in 2010, the books have been wide open and what they show is a healthy, growing economy, not the fiction Labour is now peddling that is widely rejected by independent commentators. They now have hundreds of MPs across the country spinning this false narrative and rewriting recent history, in preparation for tax rises that they cynically were not upfront about before people voted. They weren’t straight with you then and they aren’t being straight with you now. Don’t fall for it.

At least half of the claimed budget black hole has been generated by decisions being taken by Rachel Reeves herself. Taxes will be going up but Labour chose not to be straight about their intentions during the election campaign. Britain is not ‘broken’ as Labour claim. It is truth and integrity in politics that is broken.

West Sussex Trading Standards Seize a Huge Amount of Illegal Tobacco

I'm very proud of the good work our Trading Standards team at West Sussex County Council are doing, to combat harmful illegal tobacco and vapes, and to make it very clear to those considering selling them, that it just isn't worth it. We've recently had a huge seizure in Horsham, for which I've reproduced below the press release issued today by WSCC. If you have any information on illegal sales, there is a link at the bottom of the press release below.

Release date: 26 July 2024

Trade in illegal cigarettes and tobacco continues to be disrupted by West Sussex Trading Standards’ successful operations.

Earlier this month, 142,700 cigarettes and 1,461 packets of hand-rolling tobacco were seized in a single raid in Horsham, as part of an ongoing investigation. To put the size of the seizure into perspective, 162,640 cigarettes and 414 packets of hand-rolling tobacco were confiscated by Trading Standards in the whole of 2023 to 2024.

Cllr Duncan Crow, county council Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, said: “Trading Standards seized probably as much tobacco on that one day as we did in the whole of last year, which was a fantastic result by the team.

“It’s been reported that trade in illegal cigarettes and tobacco impacts disadvantaged people in our communities the most, with more than half of all smokers of illicit tobacco coming from the most deprived socio-economic groups. Organised crime gangs prey on and exploit these smokers with often fake, inferior and potentially unsafe products, making huge profit and often exploiting people to work in the shops, or on the streets outside.”

It has also been reported that counterfeit, cheap tobacco contains higher levels of tar and nicotine which could greatly increase the health risk for consumers, so Trading Standards discourages the public from buying what might seem like bargain-priced tobacco.

Our teams will investigate any potential money laundering offences alongside any Trading Standards criminal offences and utilise powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to disrupt these criminals and ensure they do not financially benefit from their wrongdoing.

Cllr Crow added: “Sellers will also be referred to HMRC, who can issue penalties of up to £10,000. Anyone caught who has a licence to sell alcohol can expect Trading Standards to immediately seek a revocation of their licence, which could have a significant impact on their business.

“Keeping people safe from the consequences of using cheap, illicit tobacco and illegal vapes is a top health priority: these illicit products can harm communities and jeopardise the profitability of honest, law-abiding local business.

“With the help of information from residents and legitimate local businesses, we will continue to disrupt the vile and potentially dangerous trade in illicit cigarettes and tobacco in West Sussex, which supports our aims for the health and wellbeing of our communities. I urge anyone who suspects illegal trading activity, please don’t turn a blind eye, but report your suspicion to our Trading Standards team online, or by calling the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on Freephone: 0808 223 1133.”

Advice for anyone needing help to give up smoking is available online

Real Questions v Labour's Time Wasting

 

I have previously written about the lengths that Crawley’s Labour Councillors go to in order to avoid scrutiny. Unfortunately, last week’s Full Council meeting at Crawley Borough Council showed that nothing has changed. 

There are only five of these meetings a year, in February, March, July, October and December, where there is a 30-minute time segment for councillors to ask questions of the council leader and cabinet members, as well as chairs of committees. 

Crawley Borough Council’s membership is 25 Labour and 11 Conservative councillors, meaning there is a large Labour majority. All eight members of the council’s cabinet, all five committee chairs plus the mayor and deputy mayor, are all Labour councillors. Experience shows that Crawley residents can only rely on Conservatives councillors to hold the Labour administration to account. 

Frustratingly, Labour’s modus operandi at councillor question time is to intentionally waste time during the five half-an-hour periods during a whole year that they are required to answer questions. At last week’s Full Council meeting, Conservative councillors asked questions of topics of importance to our town. 

We asked about possible incentives and sanctions to bring back empty shops into use? We asked if the Labour council will stand up to their own government wanting to concrete over the countryside when it comes to potential huge housing development west of Ifield? We asked if the council will look into the viability of making it’s sheltered housing for older residents feel safer by installing video doorbell entry systems? We asked if efforts will now be made to find an appropriate way for Crawley to recognise Gareth Southgate given his achievements as England manager, and we asked if they felt there could be any risk to people and property in Crawley given the Labour’s government’s plan to release prisoners less than halfway through their sentences?

In-between our pertinent questions, we had the most awful display of intentional Labour timewasting, with ‘questions’ asked that had very long prepared answers, obviously being read out word for word, including the reading out a council press release issued that day that we had all already seen.

Don't just take my word for it. You can see it here on Crawley Borough Council's YouTube page. Councillor Question Time starts at 1 hour 8 minutes and 40 seconds in.