There is never a time when everything is perfect and there will always be things we want to see improved, but we are however continuing to see real facts that our economy is in good shape with the Conservatives at the helm. It is only by having a successful economy that we as a country can fund the things we want. This is a fact that the Labour Party conveniently forgets. Socialists are great at being generous with other people’s money, but whenever they come to power they’ve always blown the economic legacy they’ve inherited, leaving others to clear up their mess.
Last week saw the publication of several figures showing that our country is moving in the right direction. We are achieving higher standards in education, we have unemployment lower than at any point in forty years, and our economy continues to grow at a healthy and sustainable rate. We are also seeing the highest number of first-time home buyers since 2007.
A strong economy is vital to support businesses creating better and higher paid jobs. Our economy has had five years of continuous growth meaning that it has now grown by almost 17% since 2010. Everyone should welcome last week’s employment figures which also showed that youth unemployment is now down by 40%. Since 2010, over three million more people are now in work and contributing to our economy. This trend is matched in Crawley and our local economy has gone from strength to strength since 2010.
It is very encouraging that public sector borrowing in December was at its lowest level since the year 2000. There is still some way to go to get the public finances in order and the fundamentals are still the same. It will only be by living within our means that we can protect and continue to provide good public services in the future. I have absolutely no doubt that if Labour got into power once again, they would wreck the economy and wreck the public finances, which would have truly devastating consequences for our country and for our public services.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
29th January 2018