When Liz Truss crashed the economy by playing fast and loose with the public finances, it was the people here in Hornsey & Wood Green who paid the price and who are still paying the price, on your mortgages and your bills.

Truss’s time at the top may only have lasted 45 days, but while she’s off peddling bizarre conspiracy theories in the US, my constituents are stuck with the consequences of her casino economics coupled with 14 years of Tory failure that’s left our NHS, schools and public services on their knees. Is there anything that’s working properly?

It’s clear that the next Labour government will have an almighty clean-up job on our hands to get Britain’s future back.   

But as the next general election draws ever closer, one thing you can be certain of is that Labour will go into it with a world-leading green agenda to protect our planet’s future, significantly more than any other party that seeks to govern the UK. 

Ham & High: MP Catherine West says that Labour will have an almighty clean-up to get Britain's future backMP Catherine West says that Labour will have an almighty clean-up to get Britain's future back

Crucially, our plans will be paid for by responsible borrowing to invest, and a proper windfall tax on the oil and gas giants still earning record, unjustifiable profits as people freeze in their homes because they can’t afford to turn the heating on. 

Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will invest billions in a new publicly-owned Great British Energy company at the forefront of clean energy, insulate millions of Britain’s cold and leaky homes, create thousands of new, green jobs up and down the country, and bring down energy bills with clean, home-grown power. 

Unlike the Tories, we’d end the outdated reliance on dirty fossil fuels by banning new oil and gas licences, and immediately rip up the block that’s still stopping clean, green onshore wind developments from getting off the ground. 

Since I was first elected, I’ve spoken out forcefully about the need to put the environment at the front and centre of our politics, because it’s the greatest threat facing not only the UK but communities around the world, including some of the poorest and most disadvantaged. Climate justice is social justice. 

The next Labour government will inherit an economic mess, but we’ll go into the election with a fully costed, pragmatic, and sensible plan to fix the Tory damage and build the sustainable, green, forward-thinking economy of the 21st century.

  • Catherine West is Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green.