This year’s council budget should have been the ‘Cost of Living Budget’.

Instead it was the ‘Tory Green Waste Tax Budget’.

The Tories have imposed a £40 Green Waste Tax on residents – a charge that will add to the cost of living at a time when households are struggling. At the same time Tory councillors voted against a 10 per cent cut to their Special Allowances, defending the interests of the few at the cost of the many.

These decisions show that on the cost of living the Tories are completely out of touch.

The cost of living crisis is having a huge impact on people across Swindon.

People in Swindon tell me that things are getting harder for them as the prices of essentials such as food, clothes and heating are rising much faster than wages.

Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, working people are an average of almost £1,500 a year worse off, and prices have risen faster than wages for 40 of the last 41 months.

And yet this Tory administration has decided to add to the cost of living with a Green Waste Tax.

The £40 charge for every household is the equivalent of a four per cent increase in council tax. The budget also shows the full scale of the Tory debt.

The council’s debt has reached a staggering £120 million. That’s an eye-watering £1,000 for every household in Swindon.

It will take years to sort it out and shows that the Tories cannot be trusted to manage Swindon’s finances.

Swindon can do better than this: Labour would reverse the Tory Green Waste Tax and help residents with the cost of living. Labour would tackle the Tories’ £120 million debt and give residents value for money. And Labour would take the real action to rebuild Swindon’s economy and kick-start regeneration of our town centre.

Mark Dempsey, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for North Swindon