I‘ve not been in Parliament for long. And if you’d asked me just a year ago if I ever thought I’d be representing my home, Uxbridge and South Ruislip in Westminster, I’d have thought the idea far-fetched. But here we are. The by-election last year was a victory for grassroots conservatives, and it showed that common-sense community-first politics is where the battles are won. Why? Because it is at that local level that we really see conservativism—local communities coming together to protect and conserve what they and their families share and enjoy.
Under Labour, however, that community-led approach would be at risk. Whilst they may have U-turned so much they're practically spinning in circles, Labour's befuddlement over its decarbonisation pledge could set the taxpayer back to the tune of £28billion. That’s a tax on every family in this country.
Contrast that with the news from the Spring Budget, which cut taxes for 27 million working people; from April, national insurance cuts will save on average £900. We cut taxes, whereas Labour just dream up new ones.
Take the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s, obsession with the unfair and unpopular Ulez expansion.
In the first month, it charged drivers £26million, with more than 57,000 vehicles penalised daily.
This highway robbery was an expansion of the ‘War on the Motorists’, fuelled by Sadiq Khan, and aided by Starmer’s opaque position on his chum in City Hall.
Keir Starmer has remained completely silent on Sadiq Khan's Ulez plans
PA
Meanwhile, we maintained the five-pence cut to fuel duty and froze rates for the fourteenth consecutive year, helping keep motoring costs down. This saves an average motorist around £50 next year.
The Conservative Government has brought taxes for motorists down, whilst the Labour Mayor of London has ignored Londoners and pushed them up – and even now is planning his next tax raid. He’s already instructed TfL (Transport for London) to investigate how to bring in road charging across the whole city in the future.
Keir Starmer has remained completely silent on the issue. But that’s hardly surprising. He doesn't understand Outer London or the rest of the UK – from his leafy North London suburb, road-user-charging probably seems like a terribly sensible idea. Of course, it isn’t. It’s a tax on drivers, carers going to do their shifts, and grandparents off to see their grandkids. A tax on you and me. And for what? Last year, when I stood up in front of my neighbours and my friends and thanked them for their unwavering support as I stood to be their MP, I never realised what was coming.
MORE AGENDA-SETTING OPINIONS:
In its first month, Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion charged drivers £26million
PA
I expected Sadiq Khan to listen to my residents. If rumours are to be believed, his own party expected him too as well – albeit briefly. Instead, we got ignored again.
Khan ramped up the rhetoric and revved forward with his Ulez expansion, swiping thousands of pounds out of the pockets of Londoners in the process. Starmer pretended to care about the policy for about forty-eight hours. And then went back to ignoring it.
I’ve only been in Parliament for a short while. But that’s something I am beginning to see time and time again. Starmer and his mates show their true colours when they think nobody is watching.
If they get the chance and have the power, I am in no doubt that the disastrous war on motorists we see in London and Wales (which Starmer has already said is his blueprint for running the country) will be rolled out nationwide.
And it’s up to us to stop him.
