The Labour Party certainly had me fooled during the election. In my defence, I was desperate to be rid of Bob Seely, and felt the country needed a fresh start. I wasn’t alone; many thought the same: that Starmer and Co were the antidote to some woeful Tory years.

Labour assured us they wouldn’t hit ‘working people,’ and in recent weeks, earnestly reinforced their message. They were dancing on the head of a pin; the new Chancellor now admits they should have said they would raise taxes! As the kids say, “What the actual?”

Faced with higher employment costs, businesses, care homes, charities and schools will need to make savings. Every single organisation, large or small that employs people, can’t simply absorb extra costs. Should you fail to pass them on, likely as not, you’ll go bust.

There’s no other way of running a business or organisation sustainably. Be in no doubt, the employers’ National Insurance hike will filter down to everyone. The £40 billion employers’ tax grab wasn’t mentioned at all during the election, and taxation was already at an all-time high under Rishi’s Tories; now they’re higher still. Many pensioners, family farmers and students, who foolishly loaned Labour their precious vote, will now have buyer’s remorse. Starmer once said he’d abolish student fees; now he’s put them up again.

The City didn’t much like Rachel’s spiteful budget either; they know we’ll get lower growth as a consequence. Other than a housing boom that won’t ever happen, Labour’s other big lie is that they won’t need even more money. Instead, they’ll make public services ‘more efficient’ – hospitals, GP surgeries, schools, prisons. You name it, they’ll sprinkle some special productivity fairy dust on it. Do you believe a patronising word of that, because I certainly don’t!

Just as magically, they say they’ll cut Britain’s staggering £315 billion annual welfare bill by getting everyone back to work.

Labour’s post-election ‘back to work’ language is far tougher than the Tories would’ve dared. Britain gifted the planet democracy and virtually all sports. We invented steel, railways, double-decker buses and the super-efficient mini car. Sir Frank Whittle invented the jet engine, while Southampton’s Reg Mitchell came up with the Spitfire. Sir Alexander Fleming’s penicillin saved millions of lives. Joseph Aspdin was the bricklayer who mixed clay and limestone and burnt it – inventing cement. William Addiss took a piece of bone from his dinner plate, drilled holes and added bristles to it. His much-needed detritus removal gadget (or toothbrush) made snogging pleasurable. In 1755, William Cullen came up with the refrigerator; 100 million are still sold annually.

Graham Bell gave the world the telephone, swiftly followed by John Logie Baird’s television. Until then, people relied on the wireless to hear from duplicitous politicians. Freshwater’s Robert Hook used his microscope to discover human cells, Tim Berners Lee created the worldwide web. Peter Durand gave us tin cans, Harry Brearley, stainless steel. When you need some cash, thank John Shepherd-Baron for inventing the ATM. BTW, did you know Reg Varney, of ‘On the Buses’ fame, made the first cash withdrawal? Have I mentioned The Beatles and the Stones yet? Thanks to out-of-control public spending, borrowing and a criminally wasteful Covid splurge, this once great nation is an economic basket case, mostly because we continually elect duff politicians.

Labour’s front benchers consistently insulted Donald Trump, and now he’s back as President.

Assuming we survive the next five years of this idiotic government, Kemi Badenoch is our next great hope. Maybe she’ll have some answers – action not words. Otherwise, we’ll be turning to Nigel Farage – at least he’s mates with The Donald. For all our sakes, let’s hope one of them has some answers because they can’t just keep on borrowing and raising taxes.