Dear Editor,

I write to you in response to councillor Alex Lee's recent letter to the editor, where he claims Conservatives have completely lost control of the economy. Whilst I share Cllr Lee's concerns in minimising any negative financial impact to Basingstoke's residents, we must not forget that current mortgage rates have been kept artificially low since 2009, not through any financial prudence, but from a fall out of the last Labour government's incompetent mismanagement of our nation's affairs.

Who can forget the images of Gordon Brown, proclaiming to have saved the world, whilst the British banking system burnt down around him. Who can forget the huge queues outside of Northern Rock branches across the country as this once great banking institution collapsed. I remember all too well the panic that set in as the Halifax, the UK's largest mortgage lender at the time, very nearly crumbled into financial ruin. I can remember the average house price collapsing by 15 per cent over the course of 2009, repossessions reaching a 14-year high with over 46,000 people losing their home in 2009 and unemployment rates reaching eight per cent, because of the last Labour government. I cannot forget the contempt the last Labour government had for our public as they made a mockery of our dire financial state with Liam Byrne, the outgoing Chief Secretary to the Treasury, leaving a note on the desk for his successor which read "I'm afraid there is no money".

Cllr Lee's suggestion of letting Labour anywhere near government again is akin to giving the gambling addict back their credit card. The party that only three years ago proposed inflicting the calamity of Corbyn, now threatens this great nation with the coalition of chaos in Starmer and Sturgeon.

Whilst our government focuses on navigating the troubled waters we currently find ourselves in, a result of the conflict in Ukraine, the impact to global markets of sanctions imposed on Russia and heightened by the ongoing recovery from the impact of Covid-19, your Basingstoke and Deane Conservatives are focused on helping our residents. Our administration has introduced a £1 million Cost of Living Assistance Fund to help households struggling to pay bills, with grants available to help pay for food and energy. Basingstoke Labour politicians have no policies which they can point to apart from "Conservatives bad". It is telling indeed that out of all the local political parties, it is only the Conservative leader of the borough council, Cllr Simon Bound, that has pledged to freeze borough council taxes next financial year for residents of Basingstoke and Deane. Financial prudence results in Basingstoke and Deane having one of the lowest district council tax rates in the country, yet still manages to maintain one of the highest spends per head of districts in England.

Councillor David McIntyre

Basingstoke and Deane Borough councillor

Representing Sherborne St John and Rooksdown Ward