It has been one year since Rishi Sunak became prime minister.  Coming in on the back of the short-lived Liz Truss shambles was always going to be challenging, but he has performed incredibly well and restored competence to government.

I particularly welcome his appetite to take long-term decisions that are in the national interest.  I think most people wouldn’t disagree, that for the last thirty years, there has been too much short-term political decision making, taking the easy way out and chasing short-term headlines and approval ratings, rather than fixing the underlying problems.

We are seeing real action in changing that.  Rishi Sunak has taken a series of long-term decisions over the last year to deliver the change that we need as a country. This include tackling the costs of Net Zero, securing the Windsor Framework, reinvesting HS2 funding in local transport projects, and implementing the NHS’s first ever long-term workforce plan.

Over the last year, the Conservative Government reached its manifesto commitment of recruiting 20,000 more police officers, meaning there are now over 149,500 officers in forces across England and Wales.  This is the highest number on record.

I will set out more achievements in future columns and there is of course more to do, but I’m confident our Conservative Government will keep taking the long-term action needed to change our country for the better.

Make no mistake - Labour, headed by Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner are a barrier to positive change, but there is a real risk they will be running our country after the next general election, with Angela Rayner being a heartbeat away from being Prime Minister.

Labour opposes the solutions we bring forward to address the long-term problems our country has, and then they have the brass neck to complain about those problems which they help to perpetuate for their own political gain.  Just look at their opposition to the policy to send people to Rwanda who enter the country illegally on boats, and Starmer’s fellow lefty lawyers using the courts to block legitimate policy to end the business model of the people smugglers.   

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

1st November 2023