In My View: Janet Daby, MP for Lewisham East

Focus should be on the economic welfare of our nation, the cost-of-living crisis, climate change and recovery from the pandemic, but what we have seen is the ongoing incompetence of this worn-out Government.

Chaos continues to engulf the whole of the Conservative Party, which has been clear to see.

While at times watching Tory MP revolts can be compelling viewing on TV, it should never be forgotten that this chaos has grave real-life consequences.

The actions of Liz Truss, who has now resigned as Prime Minister, have been catastrophic for hard-working families.

It is mind boggling that the former Prime Minister and the former Chancellor failed to see that large unfunded tax cuts would not work.

What we saw was the devaluing of the pound, plummeting pension funds and now nearly 10,000 households in the borough of Lewisham will face higher mortgage rates in 2023.

The situation for renters is not better.

I have been told by many constituents how their rent has increased by huge amounts.

This is unacceptable.

As Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt has limited the Government’s help for people with their energy bills.

Yet he decided against imposing a windfall tax on energy producers and failed to publish estimates of the windfall profits of the energy giants over the next two years.

People continue to struggle with sharp rises in gas and electricity charges, and they deserve better.

The Government’s failure means vital legislation from the Renter’s Reform Bill to the Energy Bill has either been sidelined or cancelled.

I have many constituents who live in buildings with a district heating network.

The prices for these heat networks are unregulated and people are often paying 13 times the energy cap.

Yet the Energy Bill, which would put in place regulation for heating networks, now appears to be halted or dropped.

This is an injustice to many of my constituents.

Let us not forget we have had more than 12 years of a failing Conservative Government.

We have seen a rise in food bank dependency and a visible rise in homelessness.

People are still living in homes with dangerous cladding, and our NHS is on the floor with long waiting lists and staff shortages.

The Government appears to believe that this and more is acceptable and should continue to exist in our society.

It is clear that the Conservative Party and the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, no longer have a mandate to govern.

It is essential we have a general election to help our nation, we need a Labour Government.

Only with a Labour Government will we clear up the Conservatives’ failures.