Next week will see the second annual budget from this increasingly chaotic and shambolic Labour Government.  I’ve previously written about the doom loop they have got the country in, and sadly, all the signs are that no lessons have been learned, with a repeat of their tax and spend that hurts our economy so much, meaning the cycle will be repeated again next year in order to plug the black holes they create.

I cannot see us getting out of this doom loop unless the Labour Government get serious about reducing spending, but all the signs are they aren’t.  Not only have Labour MPs including Crawley’s, stopped the government from reforming welfare, they are pushing to remove the two-child benefit cap on Universal Credit, which may happen at this budget.

It is important to note that the two-child benefit cap was introduced in 2015 by the then Conservative Government, to be applied in relation to any children born after April 2017.  It was not applied to families on benefits who already had more than two children at the time.  Therefore, any families who are now living on benefits with three or more children for whom the two-child benefit cap does apply, have grown their family knowing this limitation on benefits was in place from 2017.  Other support including free school meals is of course still available.

The reason the cap was brought in was to help discourage dependency, but now there is now a likelihood of Labour unravelling this sound move, leading to a real risk of encouraging welfare dependency once again, with hard-pressed working tax payers footing the bill for it.  

Amid internal turmoil, the last couple of weeks have seen extraordinary and bizarre behaviour from the government.  It’s becoming apparent that Labour cannot change from a party of protest to a party of government, and less than 18 months in, most people have reached the conclusion they need voting out at the first opportunity.  This budget feels like the last chance saloon to get the country back on track.  That means getting spending under control, not hiking taxes.   

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

19th November 2025