Rumen Cholakov is a Conservative Party member and commercial barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings.
As Andy Burnham prepares to be crowned as Prime Minister in the coming days, he shows little sign of correcting the mistakes made by his predecessor.
After the disruption of a leadership change, Labour look set to continue doing what they always do: spend more, hike taxes, weaken our national security, and pretend they can solve it all by taking the United Kingdom back into the EU’s orbit. On the other hand, Nigel Farage’s publicity stunt in Clacton has reminded voters that Reform is not a serious party – and one that should never be given the keys to Downing Street.
These are clearly unpalatable options for the future of our country. That is why the Conservatives represent the only viable path forward for restoring a common-sense approach to our economy, public services, immigration – and so many more pressing issues which touch the lives of voters up and down the United Kingdom.
Take the economy.
It is clear that we are simply spending beyond our means as a country.
Labour’s ruinous decision to hike public spending upon taking office resulted in growth-squeezing tax increases to pay for it which have penalised workers and businesses across the UK. Given the UK is overly exposed to international financial markets, it is no surprise that they have seen right through Labour’s lack of a plan to reduce spending to sustainable levels – resulting in punitive borrowing costs and higher interest on our existing debt stockpile.
This is even without Andy Burnham’s mooted plans to take utilities under “public control”, which will cost even more billions we don’t have. Any attempt to split up the Treasury or move No10 to Manchester is simply shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic: the bond markets will be spooked again and our fiscal credibility undermined even further. We must revert to a low-spend, low-tax, low-borrowing, low-regulation economy which incentivises businesses to invest and delivers actual economic growth.
Nowhere is this clearer than on Labour’s approach to welfare. Economists and commentators from across the political spectrum agree that a welfare bill forecast to rise to over £400 billion by 2030 is unsustainable. Not only will this present huge implications for tax and borrowing, but we will be consigning thousands of people to a life on benefits without the dignity of work. We must instead reform the benefits system to motivate work, restore the two-child benefit cap, and reassess the alarming trend of mental health constituting an excuse to be semi-permanently locked out of the labour market.
Labour’s approach to net zero has similarly gone too far. Whilst the UK is right to play its part in combatting climate change, this cannot come at the expense of ordinary working households bearing the cost. Ed Miliband’s zealotry for meeting net zero emissions by 2050 – with even more stringent targets before that – is simply not possible without living standards plummeting. Energy costs for households and businesses in the UK are already some of the highest in the world, deterring much-needed foreign investment and impacting economic growth. These legally binding targets should be reviewed and repealed, with the green transition occurring through market competition rather than arbitrary mandates.
By reducing spending on welfare and net zero, we will be able to reduce our borrowing costs, fund tax cuts to turbocharge economic growth, and boost investment where it is badly needed.
Top of the list must be to give our armed forces the funding they need. Keir Starmer’s cack-handed approach to the Defence Investment Plan saw him lose a Defence Secretary and leave his successor with an immediate £5 billion black hole. Given Labour’s love for public spending, that means higher borrowing or higher taxes at the Autumn Budget to fund the shortfall. The Conservative approach is simple: reduce spending on welfare to give this country’s armed forces what they need to keep us safe in this increasingly dangerous world. Our country is squarely in Russia’s sights. We all witnessed the embarrassing spectacle of the Royal Navy struggling to provide any support to the US military campaign against Iran: this cannot be repeated.
Indeed, Labour’s foreign policy seems designed to encourage our adversaries rather than deter them. Surrendering UK sovereignty over the strategically positioned Chagos Islands to Mauritius – and paying billions to do so – will only reduce our ability to project hard power overseas and embolden China, with whom Mauritius has close ties. Furthermore, approving construction of the new Chinese Embassy in London has been condemned by our own security services as posing a direct risk to our national security.
And Labour’s inexorable desire to push the UK back into closer alignment with the EU is unwise. We will be forced to re-align with EU rules with no say – impacting our ability to strike independent trade deals and boost fledgling domestic industries such as AI and life sciences (in which we have much more potential than the EU) – and we will have to pay for the privilege of doing so. The EU AI Act is an unmitigated disaster that has doomed the continent to living in the stone ages, while the USA, UK, and Asia progress to the future. Keir Starmer floated AI legislation here, and there is no doubt his successor will try to pass it. We must stop them from following the catastrophic EU model. Speaking as someone born and raised in Bulgaria, I know that the EU will do whatever it takes to protect their own interests and punish the UK for having left should we ever attempt to rejoin — especially if we do so from a position of weakness.
London is the crown jewel of our country, and it must be allowed to flourish. While the inability to passport securities into the EU had some impact, the financial services industry remains strong with huge inroads from private equity. I am a UK-trained English commercial barrister and I see daily that London is the pre-eminent global centre for commercial dispute resolution. Our common law is the most powerful and nimble tool to handle frontier technologies such as crypto or AI. But we must make London safe again by giving more resources to law enforcement.
It is also obvious that the EU will demand some return to freedom of movement, which Labour will presumably be content with. Immigration is a divisive issue in the UK, but we must not forget what Brexit delivered: control of our borders to decide who we want to come here. We need to attract high-skilled, talented migration which will boost our economy and not depress local wages or put pressure on local public services. It is similarly clear that our membership of the ECHR is no longer tenable. Kemi Badenoch is right to call for its repeal.
Labour have run this country into the ground in just two years. Their new Prime Minister is now set to make the situation even worse and the Reform party is not a serious prospect for governing.
The Conservatives represent the only way forward to prosperity for this country.
Rumen Cholakov is a Conservative Party member and commercial barrister at 3 Verulam Buildings.
As Andy Burnham prepares to be crowned as Prime Minister in the coming days, he shows little sign of correcting the mistakes made by his predecessor.
After the disruption of a leadership change, Labour look set to continue doing what they always do: spend more, hike taxes, weaken our national security, and pretend they can solve it all by taking the United Kingdom back into the EU’s orbit. On the other hand, Nigel Farage’s publicity stunt in Clacton has reminded voters that Reform is not a serious party – and one that should never be given the keys to Downing Street.
These are clearly unpalatable options for the future of our country. That is why the Conservatives represent the only viable path forward for restoring a common-sense approach to our economy, public services, immigration – and so many more pressing issues which touch the lives of voters up and down the United Kingdom.
Take the economy.
It is clear that we are simply spending beyond our means as a country.
Labour’s ruinous decision to hike public spending upon taking office resulted in growth-squeezing tax increases to pay for it which have penalised workers and businesses across the UK. Given the UK is overly exposed to international financial markets, it is no surprise that they have seen right through Labour’s lack of a plan to reduce spending to sustainable levels – resulting in punitive borrowing costs and higher interest on our existing debt stockpile.
This is even without Andy Burnham’s mooted plans to take utilities under “public control”, which will cost even more billions we don’t have. Any attempt to split up the Treasury or move No10 to Manchester is simply shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic: the bond markets will be spooked again and our fiscal credibility undermined even further. We must revert to a low-spend, low-tax, low-borrowing, low-regulation economy which incentivises businesses to invest and delivers actual economic growth.
Nowhere is this clearer than on Labour’s approach to welfare. Economists and commentators from across the political spectrum agree that a welfare bill forecast to rise to over £400 billion by 2030 is unsustainable. Not only will this present huge implications for tax and borrowing, but we will be consigning thousands of people to a life on benefits without the dignity of work. We must instead reform the benefits system to motivate work, restore the two-child benefit cap, and reassess the alarming trend of mental health constituting an excuse to be semi-permanently locked out of the labour market.
Labour’s approach to net zero has similarly gone too far. Whilst the UK is right to play its part in combatting climate change, this cannot come at the expense of ordinary working households bearing the cost. Ed Miliband’s zealotry for meeting net zero emissions by 2050 – with even more stringent targets before that – is simply not possible without living standards plummeting. Energy costs for households and businesses in the UK are already some of the highest in the world, deterring much-needed foreign investment and impacting economic growth. These legally binding targets should be reviewed and repealed, with the green transition occurring through market competition rather than arbitrary mandates.
By reducing spending on welfare and net zero, we will be able to reduce our borrowing costs, fund tax cuts to turbocharge economic growth, and boost investment where it is badly needed.
Top of the list must be to give our armed forces the funding they need. Keir Starmer’s cack-handed approach to the Defence Investment Plan saw him lose a Defence Secretary and leave his successor with an immediate £5 billion black hole. Given Labour’s love for public spending, that means higher borrowing or higher taxes at the Autumn Budget to fund the shortfall. The Conservative approach is simple: reduce spending on welfare to give this country’s armed forces what they need to keep us safe in this increasingly dangerous world. Our country is squarely in Russia’s sights. We all witnessed the embarrassing spectacle of the Royal Navy struggling to provide any support to the US military campaign against Iran: this cannot be repeated.
Indeed, Labour’s foreign policy seems designed to encourage our adversaries rather than deter them. Surrendering UK sovereignty over the strategically positioned Chagos Islands to Mauritius – and paying billions to do so – will only reduce our ability to project hard power overseas and embolden China, with whom Mauritius has close ties. Furthermore, approving construction of the new Chinese Embassy in London has been condemned by our own security services as posing a direct risk to our national security.
And Labour’s inexorable desire to push the UK back into closer alignment with the EU is unwise. We will be forced to re-align with EU rules with no say – impacting our ability to strike independent trade deals and boost fledgling domestic industries such as AI and life sciences (in which we have much more potential than the EU) – and we will have to pay for the privilege of doing so. The EU AI Act is an unmitigated disaster that has doomed the continent to living in the stone ages, while the USA, UK, and Asia progress to the future. Keir Starmer floated AI legislation here, and there is no doubt his successor will try to pass it. We must stop them from following the catastrophic EU model. Speaking as someone born and raised in Bulgaria, I know that the EU will do whatever it takes to protect their own interests and punish the UK for having left should we ever attempt to rejoin — especially if we do so from a position of weakness.
London is the crown jewel of our country, and it must be allowed to flourish. While the inability to passport securities into the EU had some impact, the financial services industry remains strong with huge inroads from private equity. I am a UK-trained English commercial barrister and I see daily that London is the pre-eminent global centre for commercial dispute resolution. Our common law is the most powerful and nimble tool to handle frontier technologies such as crypto or AI. But we must make London safe again by giving more resources to law enforcement.
It is also obvious that the EU will demand some return to freedom of movement, which Labour will presumably be content with. Immigration is a divisive issue in the UK, but we must not forget what Brexit delivered: control of our borders to decide who we want to come here. We need to attract high-skilled, talented migration which will boost our economy and not depress local wages or put pressure on local public services. It is similarly clear that our membership of the ECHR is no longer tenable. Kemi Badenoch is right to call for its repeal.
Labour have run this country into the ground in just two years. Their new Prime Minister is now set to make the situation even worse and the Reform party is not a serious prospect for governing.
The Conservatives represent the only way forward to prosperity for this country.