The Tendring Council election result in Clacton has sent the Labour Party mixed messages.

The Tories can celebrate the fact they are now in overall control of Tendring Council, picking up seats from Tendring First and the Lib Dems, and one from Labour, but in reality there has been no change.

The cosy coalition led by the Tories with the Community Representatives on Tendring Council was no different to the bag-handling role the Lib Dems play to the Tories at Government level.

Therefore, there will be very little change, other than the fact the Tory council will implement the cuts with even more enthusiasm.

It is a bit of a disappointment we only picked up two more seats overall, but that does now mean we are the second largest party, even if by the skin of our teeth.

Our job now is to consolidate that position by providing effective opposition and, rest assured, that is what we will do, exposing the damage that coalition cuts, enthusiastically implemented by a Tory council, will mean for the ordinary people of Clacton.

As for the unadulterated nonsense put out by the Tories in the election, trying to blame the last Labour government for the economic crisis caused by the banking and finance industry as a whole, the economic illiteracy is staggering.

Far from the previous Labour government “maxing out on its credit cards”, the question has to be asked: Why was there no money left in the account in the first place?

Clearly, the tax avoidance and the gambling in the City of London and Canary Wharf is what did it for the British economy.

Cutting back on public services and benefits for the most vulnerable in society will do nothing to stimulate the economy as people will have even less money in their pockets to spend.

I call on Tory MP Douglas Carswell to tell his government to change course on the economy. Britain’s economy has flat-lined over the last six months, while countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands have overtaken us and while Germany is powering ahead.

This shows the huge risks George Osborne is taking in Britain by making a political choice to cut further and faster than any other major economy in the world.

Keith Henderson
Parliamentary spokesman
Clacton Labour Party