‘Portsmouth is fizzing full of potential but is too often short-changed by Government’ – Stephen Morgan MP responds to Prime Minister’s conference speech

Those were the words of city MP Stephen Morgan in reponse to the Prime Minister’s Conservative Party conference speech on Wednesday.

“The consequences (for a city like Portsmouth) are stark as the cost of living crisis bites with households feeling the pinch, struggling high streets and stretched local businesses,” he commented.”

“After 13 years of Tory failure, it is clear Rishi Sunak isn’t a cure for that failure – he’s a product of it. And every day the Tories stay in power it all just carries on.”

The Portsmouth South MP added: “With good jobs, investment in our community and by creating new opportunities, every part of Portsmouth could be better off with the right leadership at the helm.

“The sooner the election comes the better because it’s time to turn the page on the Tory years and start to invest in our city and rebuild Britain under a Labour government.”

Pat McFadden MP, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, said: “After 13 years and five Tory Prime Ministers, Rishi Sunak’s latest desperate attempt to reset his weak leadership and divided government won’t fool the British public who are looking at Tory failures all around them.

“Sunak’s weakness is having a decaying effect on his party and the country. Members of his cabinet have spent this week jockeying for position to replace him, while Liz Truss, Nigel Farage and conspiracy theories lifted from the darkest corners of the internet have dominated his conference.

"How can a man who can’t even run his own party seriously claim he’s capable of running the country?

“The Tories have let Britain down for too long. They cannot be the change from their own failures. The damage they would do with five more years would be intolerable for working people.

“To turn the page on this chaos, the country needs the election of a Labour Government committed to ending the Tory decline and rebuilding Britain.”

During his speech, Mr Sunak referenced the Opposition.

"Politicians spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it. It doesn’t have to be this way. I won’t be this way. Our mission is to fundamentally change our country,” he stated.

“The Labour party have set out their stall: to do and say as little as possible and hope no-one notices. They want to take people’s votes for granted and keep doing politics the same old way.

“It is a bet on people’s apathy. It does not speak to any higher purpose, or brighter future. It is about power for the sake of power. It is in short, everything that is wrong with our politics.

“So if this country is to change, then it can only be us who will deliver it. Because if we do not, our growth will be stunted. More places will be left behind. And ever more of our time will be spent debating the side issues and symptoms, rather than the deeper, more structural challenges we face.”