The Prime Minister may not be worried about rising prices or the impact on households, but every family we speak to in Wanstead is. Prices are now rising at their fastest rate since 1999 and wages are simply not keeping pace. Coupled with the very real impacts of Johnson’s bad Brexit deal, local businesses are really suffering.

Take the local driving instructor we spoke to a few weeks ago. Unable to fill her tank due to HGV driver shortages, which meant no petrol, which meant she couldn’t work, which meant she struggled to pay her bills. Or the local restaurants on Wanstead High Street unable to import the food and drink they need because of yet more red tape at customs causing delays. It’s not just imports that are being affected, exports to our largest set of customers. ie the EU, have also fallen significantly.

You would expect, as a Lib Dem, for me to say that Brexit has been the sole cause of all these ills. Actually, it isn’t. Leaving the EU didn’t have to mean leaving the single market, nor did it have to mean a complete lack of planning on the Johnson government’s part. A failure to plan for key workers in key industries now means that the French and Polish are selling the UK Turkeys for Christmas, thousands of pigs may be unnecessarily slaughtered this week and we are still seeing shortages of food and fuel in our High Streets.

All of this means higher prices for us and our families as we approach winter. The answer isn’t simple, or quick, but we could start by joining the European Economic Area or Single Market. The UK is a trading nation, so let it do what we do best, reduce the barriers to trade and let us do businesses with our largest set of customers which will reduce the pressure on household budgets.

Scott Wilding

Wanstead Liberal Democrats