SLOUGH MP Tan Dhesi talks this week about the need for Government to ‘step up’. He writes;

A joint report from two House of Commons select committees, both chaired by Conservative MPs, has slammed the Government for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, describing it as the “worst public health failure ever.” Sadly, for many struggling Slough residents, failure is the norm with this Government. Not only has it presided over a Covid response where we experienced the highest death toll in Europe, alongside the worst economic crisis of any major economy, but we’re now seeing the consequences of their failed Brexit deal.

A Brexit deal they were praising less than two years ago, they now say doesn’t deliver! Either the Government didn’t understand the deal they had negotiated, in which case they are incompetent, or they knowingly pressed ahead with an unworkable deal to win votes at the 2019 General Election and selling out the people of Northern Ireland in the process.

Closer to home, we’re seeing the effects of Government policy and mismanagement. Reduced choice and/or empty shop shelves, long queues or empty petrol stations, we’ve got inflation busting rail fare increases, and gas companies are dropping like flies. For Slough residents, this means higher energy costs, more expensive commutes to work and higher food bills, all coming after some of the toughest months many have faced in our lifetimes.

So what are the Government doing to make life better for us?

After promising during the last election Tories wouldn’t increase taxes, they betraying the British public and hike national insurance. This is a regressive policy, which hits those on lower incomes the hardest.

And for the near 14,000 households in Slough on Universal Credit, they will be hammered further with an annual cut of over £1,000.

This is a perfect storm facing working families. Prices rising, taxes rising, but take-home pay falling. All created by this Government!

It’s not too late for the Government to step up, support struggling families and cancel their callous cut to Universal Credit, but with the Prime Minister currently on holiday at a luxury villa in Spain, reportedly owned by Tory Lord Goldsmith and usually costing £25,000 per night, I suspect the Government will be more focussed on ensuring their wealthy donors and friends are looked after first. Because as we’ve all come to realise, it’s one rule for them, and another for the rest of us.