As I’m sure many of you are aware, last Tuesday, the Prime Minister made an incredibly disappointing speech setting out the justification for yet more of his political decision making in the Autumn Statement. 

I was especially disappointed to see him continue to raise the false claim that there was a surprise financial black hole. However, I was expecting that sort of rhetoric to justify what his government are planning to do.

I want to be clear, any action on spending that the Labour Party takes in either Westminster or the Senedd is a political choice.

It was a choice to remove the winter fuel allowance payments from pensioners across the United Kingdom and any increase in taxes on hard working families will also be a choice. 

I hope that the decision to axe winter fuel allowance payments will be put to a vote in the house of Commons and that Labour MPs defy the whip and vote to protect our pensioners. 

Our pensioners are concerned, and I am not surprised. This axing of support comes at the same time as energy prices are set to rise by 10% this winter with the average energy bill increasing by £149. 

At times of financial difficulty, Governments and Local Authorities need to be more careful than ever with public funding. 

I firmly believe in the need to improve efficiency and cut down on Government waste, however we need to make sure that the most vulnerable in our society do not have to pay the price. 

We have seen councils in Wales being forced by the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay to raise excessive amounts of council tax, and now we hear some councils are considering cutting back on services such as Meals on Wheels, something that should never be considered.

This is all occurring while there is a very real risk of the Government losing control of public sector pay after the threat of further rail strikes following the recent pay increases to train drivers. 

I take no joy in watching this and I had hoped that the Labour party had changed. Clearly it hasn’t. 

I genuinely want the new Prime Minister to do a good job, but so far, he and his government are disappointing many people across the UK.