Tom Wust

Andy Burnham wants to take Britain back to the 1970s, a time of more government control, more trade union control and no economic growth. There is a reason our country took a different course after that decade. Nothing Burnham announced today will do anything to fix Britain’s long-term problems. He had no plan to fix our stagnant economy. No plan to fund defence. No plan to sort out the spiralling welfare bill, beyond more government schemes. His proposal to change the triple lock is already falling apart under scrutiny, and it won’t generate enough savings to fund a nationalised care system for another two decades, which means more tax rises are inevitable. Britain does not need to recreate the politics of the 1970s. It needs a government prepared to take the difficult decisions, back those who work and build businesses, and look confidently to the future.

The Falkland Islands are British. The Conservatives will always defend them.

Keir Starmer’s speech was sad to watch. With so many resets, even his reset button needs a reset. But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can't explain why. This is Labour’s real problem. It is not just Starmer - all the pretenders jostling for his job do not have the answers either, because they all believe the same things: more welfare, more state control, more borrowing, more regulation. They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future. What we need is to get Britain working again. That is why I have proposed an alternative King’s Speech with a a clear plan to reward effort, cut the cost of government, secure our borders, rebuild industry and back families who do the right thing. If Labour are serious about fixing the country they could do all of this tomorrow. Whether they have the bravery or the common sense to do that is a different matter.