In My View: Neil Coyle, MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark

The Conservatives have now been in power for 13 years, including five with the Liberal Democrats, although it increasingly feels longer and like the country has not improved.

People are left asking what services or opportunities are better now than they were before the Tories.

Food and energy bills are soaring, wages do not match inflation or rising costs, waiting lists for the NHS are increasing, and crime rates continue to rocket.

But the Prime Minister has re-announced his priority is maths.

Well, his priorities just don’t add up and he has severely miscalculated what people care about.

In London last year the police didn’t turn up after more than 1,000 reported burglaries a month and more than 70 per cent of all burglaries went unsolved.

I meet and work with the dedicated local police team in Southwark and know many individual officers care deeply and want to do more to help anyone experiencing any crime.

But they are overstretched, under-resourced and lack sufficient powers.

Since the Tories took office, the Met has lost 3,000 police officers, more than 3,000 PCSOs and 5,000 other police staff.

The effect is felt in Southwark now where you are four times more likely to have your bike stolen, five times more likely to be robbed and almost 10 times more likely to be the victim of a pickpocket or snatch-and-grab crime.

Police visibility and activity is crucial to tackling these problems but the PM is absent from the scene, too busy lecturing on the importance of maths while his education ministers fail children by not solving teachers being on strike.

Huge cuts to neighbourhood policing, the colossal court backlog and the pitiful prosecution rates (including just 2 per cent for rape) all leave criminals knowing they can get away with it under the Tories.

Labour want to fix the situation with 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and PCSOs, punishing offenders with tougher sentences and taking more action to stop young people being drawn into crime.

Crime and antisocial behaviour are not the only pressing issues facing our community.

The cost-of-living crisis continues with rising rents, bills and food prices all leaving many families struggling.

Our Labour council has been working hard to support people in need with a Cost-of-Living Fund which has now helped almost 15,000 households with an additional £100 through the most difficult winter months.

I and my small team in my Bermondsey office referred 170 people and supported many more with their applications in this difficult period as well as linking people to other advice and help elsewhere.

But there is much more that needs to be done and we need Rishi Sunak and his Tory Government to wake up to the real priorities and to stop patronising people about maths when ministers are routinely failing to improve our country.

Labour has a long-term plan to build a better Britain. Not Tory headline-grabbing, but ineffective solutions.

A genuine long-term, mission-driven aspiration to, step by step, improve people’s lives in Southwark and across the country.