Mike Amesbury: Liz Truss as PM would be 'frightening'

Truss’s promise to deliver tax cuts sooner than Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak has gone down well with the Conservative Party membership.

But both were part of a Government that raised taxes 15 times to a 70-year high!

No-one wants taxes higher than necessary, but tax cuts would mainly benefit the rich and last week Truss revealed it’s working people who will pay the price.

Abandoning the levelling up mantra, Truss talked about regional pay boards that would link public sector wages to local living costs in a bid to save £8.8bn.

Liz Truss is said to be the front runner to be the next PM - Photo: PA Wire

It would mean pay cuts for teachers, nurses and police in poorer parts of the country like the north, while families struggle to pay rising food, energy and mortgage bills.

Truss has now backtracked, but she said it.

Meanwhile, her £30 billion tax cuts plan has sparked fears she intends to decimate public services already at breaking point. For example, our NHS needs intensive care as it copes with a staffing crisis and a patient back-log.

Modelling herself on Margaret Thatcher, Truss would butcher the depleted civil service which is floundering.

My team is inundated daily with enquiries from constituents facing delays getting passports, visas and driving licence applications processed.

Cuts have consequences. Look at Northwich where we have a railway station that collapsed in 2021.

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury at Northwich Train Station (Image: Mike Amesbury)

Only last week the main library had to temporarily close its doors for safety reasons having deteriorated under successive administrations.

Despite being cash-strapped, Cheshire West and Chester Council has allocated £2m to renovate the much-loved building and now needs to urgently get on with the job in hand.

It’s no wonder councils are in dire straits. The Tories have cut local government funding by 50% with an eye-watering half a billion pounds taken from CWaC’s budget. That means fewer staff to deliver vital services.

While Truss is the favourite among the Tory membership, whoever takes over from Johnson was part of his discredited regime. They should do the right thing by calling a general election and give Britain the chance to vote for the Government we deserve.

One that helps families through this cost-of-living crisis, properly resources our schools, hospitals and social care, offers people a fair deal in these challenging times and hope for future generations.