Local MP Alan Mak has responded for the Conservatives in an important Parliamentary debate on economic management.
Mr Mak, who is now serving on the Opposition Front Bench as a Shadow Treasury Minister, spoke in response to the Labour Government's Budget Responsibility Bill. Mr Mak previously served as a Minister in the Treasury under the last Conservative Government.
He said: "We have heard from Labour ministers talking the country down, claiming to have inherited the worst set of circumstances since the Second World War.
"Frankly, Labour's approach is more OTT than OBR. To prove Labour wrong, we do not have to go back as far as 1945: we only have to revisit 2010.
"When we took over from Labour, unemployment was at 8%; the Conservatives nearly halved it to 4.4%. In 2010, the deficit was 10.3% of GDP, thanks to Labour's reckless borrowing; it is now 4.4%, and is forecast to fall to 1.2% in the coming years."
Mr Mak continued: "In 2010, inflation was 3.4%; today, it is back at 2%, the Bank of England's target.
"Let us not forget that the final years of the last Labour Government saw Britain experience the deepest recession since quarterly data started being published - in fact, Labour Britain was in recession for longer than any other G7 country at the time, and we were the last to exit.
"That is why in 2010, Labour left us with that infamous note saying: 'There's no money left'. In contrast, in July we left Labour with the fastest-growing economy in the G7, low inflation, low unemployment and 12 months of consecutive wage growth."
He added: "I'll continue to contribute to the work of holding Labour to account in Parliament and to speak up for our local economy and economic growth at a national level."
