THEY say a week is a long time in politics. Well, the past month has felt like a decade.

Since my last column we have had two Prime Ministers, two Chancellors, and the Home Secretary has been sacked and then reappointed just days later. Suella Braverman’s return is an eye-wateringly fast paced rehabilitation for someone who imperilled national security.

Sadly, after the past month, our economy also requires immediate rehabilitation.

The failed Tory kamikaze budget derailed the economy, crashed the pound in our pockets, sent the cost of mortgages spiralling and nearly collapsed people’s hard earned pension pots. Such chaotic mismanagement of the economy is unforgivable at any time – but doing so when ordinary people are grappling with a generational cost of living crisis is grossly incompetent.

We mustn’t forgive. We mustn’t forget.

This was just the latest episode in 12 years of Conservative chaos. Five Tory Prime Ministers have entered the revolving door at Downing Street, each leaving our public services in a worse state than they found them.

Now after crashing the economy, the Tories look set to unveil even more spending cuts to calm the markets that they have spooked. Once again, it’s ordinary working people and the vulnerable who’ll pay the price for their incompetence. It is no surprise that people increasingly want a fresh start with Labour.

This failed Tory ideology of slash and crash has already stalled wage growth for a decade. It has led to NHS dentistry disappearing; to people struggling to see a GP for weeks, and to the incredible possibility that 90% of schools may run out of cash next year – people in Durham will rightly be scratching their heads and asking “who voted for yet more austerity?”.

The answer? The Tory party.

We have had two Prime Ministers imposed on us in a matter of weeks – with Rishi Sunak being elected by just 0.0004 per cent of the population.

Speaking to people in Durham I know how sick to the back teeth they are of spending cuts and collapsing public services. Yet we need look no further than our own county council to see that a fresh round of austerity is already underway as the Tories turn a blind eye to our communities.

Durham County Council is already preparing for further cuts totalling £17m. My constituents will rightly ask: “What is left to cut?”

From 2010, the previous Labour administration at the council saw its budget cut by Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs at Westminster by 37 per cent. A staggering £246m taken out of vital services we all rely on. Now the same two parties have entered into coalition at County Hall, they too are being forced to recognise the unjust cuts that deprived areas like Durham have experienced under this Government.

County Durham Conservative leader Richard Bell has stated the council “simply needs more Government grant support”. Who knew? A giant penny must have just dropped at County Hall.

Sadly, Durham’s Tories may find little assistance from their Westminster colleagues, given Rishi Sunak’s recent boast that he had successfully undone the Labour formulas which gave funding to deprived areas.

The situation we face in Durham is not unique. Councils across the North East are facing significant funding shortfalls. The blame must lay solely at the feet of the Conservative Party which has for so long ignored our region.