Former Councillor Bob Lanzer

07/10/2026

What follows sounds too appalling to be real but this is Britain today under Labour.

In the year to March 2026, government borrowing was almost £125 billion and over the same period, they had to pay £97.6 billion in debt interest. So we have almost 80% of borrowing having to cover interest payments on a national debt of £3 trillion.

Government borrowing costs are rising globally, but unfortunately for us, the UK is having to pay the highest interest rates in the G7 on government debt. This is going to have increasing consequences for us all and sooner or later, the country is going to have to live within it’s means.

01/10/2026

Just when you think that it cannot get any worse, the Labour government piles on more agony with rising council tax bills.

Council Tax has become an ever-increasing share of household budgets in recent years and without action, this trend is set to continue. Pressures on local authorities are well documented, and rising costs have to be paid for somehow, but I think we are reaching our limit as to what is acceptable and...

23/09/2026

Labour's new planning laws take power away from local communities.

The Labour Government claims it will bring decision making closer to the people, but when it comes to local government, the evidence increasingly shows the opposite is true.

23/09/2026

At home and abroad, we have people and organisations seeking to subvert our democratic processes. We must be vigilant in frustrating their efforts.

I have never known a time when our democracy has felt as vulnerable as now. Public awareness is limited of malign activities that are shaping our politics in a very ugly way. Hostile state actors like Russia are actively seeking to sow discourse and undermine our institutions and our democracy, not....

22/09/2026

Sadly, the markets are right. This Labour government is true to form - tax, spend, put up borrowing costs, increase unemployment. These are traditional Labour outcomes that wreck the economy.

11/09/2026

Whatever happened to probity and the principle of not treating the electorate?

Mr Trump says the dividend would be paid if Republicans kept both houses.

09/09/2026

Labour has this habit of "forgetting" the principle of self-determination for the citizens of a country. They have done this twice across two generations for the Chagos Islands.

It is concerning to hear media reports saying new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is intending to press on with Keir Starmer’s disgraceful deal to give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This shoddy deal is wrong on so many levels, and the whole issue has greater local significance for us in Crawley, wi...

03/09/2026

Soaring energy prices compromise economic growth and negatively impact our standard of living. The Labour government needs to address the causes, including its own policies, more than the symptoms.

From October 1st, the Energy Price Cap will rise by 3.6%, taking typical household energy bills to £1,723 a year. This follows the 13% increase that came in at the start of July. When added to rising bills such as council tax and water, the high costs of rents and mortgages, and high petrol and die...

26/08/2026

Devolution is not nearly so empowering as the Labour government suggests.

The Government are making much of Andy Burham’s history as Mayor of Greater Manchester and how it will shape his plans, although they aren’t highlighting that he isn’t the first Prime Minister with a mayoral background.

26/08/2026

Successive government's have dithered in renewing our strategic nuclear deterrent resulting in CASD (Continuous At Sea Deterrence) patrols of extraordinary length. Imagine being couped up underwater for 205 days. Even being welcomed back by the Prime Minister might not fully compensate!

To give some perspective, the post-apocalyptic novel, "On The Beach" by Nevil Shute, had two surviving American nuclear submarines completing fictional record underwater journeys of 32 days (USS Swordfish) and 27 days (USS Scorpion). Yet these fictional records pale compared to today's British reality.

A Vanguard-class submarine returned to Faslane today after 205 days away, breaking the previous record for the longest unbroken patrol by a Royal Navy submarine. This boat left its base in September 2025 and has been underwater for more than six and a half months. She was relieved in the last few da...