Call for Sunak to be clear if Crawley’s 15,760 pensioners will be made to pay for the Conservatives’ £46bn tax blackhole

Peter Lamb, Labour candidate for Crawley, has written to Rishi Sunak to ask if Crawley’s 15,760 pensioners will be made to pay for the cost of his unfunded £46bn tax plan.

The letter comes just 18 months after the Conservatives’ disastrous mini-budget crashed the British economy with £45bn worth of unfunded tax cuts.

The letter is reproduced in full below.

Dear Mr Sunak,

Re: Crawley’s Pensioners

In the 18 months since your party crashed the UK economy with plans for £45bn of unfunded tax cuts for the those on high incomes, families across Crawley have been left to suffer due to higher prices for everything from housing to insurance, public services have been put into yet another round of cuts as the lack of Government support has left their budgets at the mercy of inflation, and people have been left wondering when—if ever—the country will return to the economic prosperity experienced under the last Labour Government.

Rather than steadying the ship, the Chancellor’s decision in the most recent Budget to announce plans for another £46bn unfunded tax cut beggars belief and has left people wondering quite how the Conservatives intend to pay for their proposals.

The Government has had many opportunities to either row back on their proposals, to make it clear how they will be funded, and to rule out various areas for cuts when asked directly including regarding pensions, and up to this point has failed to do so. Consequently, we can only conclude that the Conservatives do intend to press ahead with their proposals and all options suggested remain on the table, including cuts to the incomes of Crawley’s 15,760 pensioners.

I am writing to ask that the Conservatives make their intentions clear and reassure those who are now left wondering how, if at all, they can afford to pay-off the cheques your party is now writing.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Lamb
Labour candidate for Crawley