Exclusive
'Why would anyone sane vote for the Tories?': Minister put on the spot with barrage of complaints from LBC listener
11 June 2024, 08:35
Nick Ferrari, and an LBC listener, put Tory Work and Pensions Secretary on the spot
Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride was put on the spot by an LBC listener from a "Blue Wall" constituency rained down a barrage of complaints about soaring mortgages, the NHS crisis, crumbling schools and roads, and dentist shortages.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Mel Stride was put on the spot by an LBC listener’s question.
The conversation comes ahead of the launch of the Tory Party manifesto as the Prime Minister attempts to move on from the fallout over his early departure from D-Day commemorations and shift the conversation.
But, ahead of this one LBC listener, Kate in Surrey, had questions she wanted answers to and she didn't hold back.
“I'm going to read you an e-mail from Kate in Surrey, the Blue Wall," Nick said to Mr Stride.
"What can the Tories possibly unveil to win votes? If your mortgage has doubled? Your granny died in a care home.
"You've waited six hours for an ambulance then 30 hours in A&E your children are being taught in a cold Portakabin because their classroom ceiling might fall.
"Roads are terrible, trains are terrible. You have a toothache and you cannot get to a dentist. Why would anyone sane vote Conservative Mel Stride? What would you say to Kate?”
- Follow the LBC live General Election blog for all the twists and turns of the campaign train and listen live to LBC on Global Player, our official app
With an impassioned reply, the Secretary of State said: “I would say we've been through really tough times as a country with COVID and also the high inflation due to the war in Europe and we have brought us through that. “
He added the Conservatives have “supported people with furlough” and saved “many millions of livelihoods”
Mr Stride said they had also brought inflation down.
“We've now got the fastest joint growth of any economy in the G7. We've got real wages now with data out just this morning showing rising for each of the last 11 months and we're getting taxes down, which is helping families right across the country.”
Read more: Suella Braverman says Conservatives should 'welcome' Nigel Farage to 'unite the right'
Rishi Sunak will make a series of pledges to cut taxes and woo first-time buyers. The policies trailed overnight include: a 100% relief on capital gains tax liability for landlords who sell to their existing tenants; abolishing stamp duty up to the value of £425,000 for first-time buyers; a "new and improved" Help to Buy scheme; and reports of a 2p cut to national insurance.
These build on previous pledges of no increases to income tax, national insurance or VAT, an expansion of levelling up funding with a pledge to give 30 towns £20 million, and mandatory national service for 18-year-olds.
All eyes will be on pledges linked to immigration, including UK involvement with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as Mr Sunak seeks to persuade voters against backing Reform UK - now led by Nigel Farage.
