I worry people will sleepwalk into a socialist nightmare this election, says Esther McVey

Following the first of the TV election debates it was Sunak 1 Starmer 0. Rishi came out fighting and had Keir on the ropes – whether it was on votes for 16-year-olds, tax increase on private schools, no answers on illegal migration or of course that £2,000 Labour tax bombshell, which Labour is now rapidly trying to deny and debunk.

But with what Labour has pledged, people need to know that a tax bombshell is on its way – because that is the only way those pledges can be paid for.

Indeed, 21 of the 27 pledge costings were carried out by the Treasury; the others were based on Labour’s own costings. Given that the party refused to rule out higher property taxes, I suspect the additional tax will be much higher than £2,000.

I hope people are still listening. There has been so much political discourse I wonder just how many people have turned off?

But these TV debates are essential, because so far Labour mouthpieces have got away without explaining what they will do, how they will do it and how much it will cost.

Brought in as the Minister for Common Sense last November, I have seen first-hand the battles this country faces on so many fronts, from restoring our finances after lockdown, when the Government provided £400billion support to protect the nation and save 11million jobs, to protecting our nation from the buffeting winds of instability and war raging around the world. And since he became Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has, against all the odds, managed to restore economic stability to the country.

With news this week that inflation is down to its target level, combined with recent figures showing that the UK economy is growing faster than in France, Germany and Italy, plus wages are rising faster than prices, and interest rates are predicted to come down – he has achieved a huge amount in a short space of time.

Like all general elections, this one is vitally important.

It will shape the future of this country, economically and culturally, as well as our security in an uncertain and unstable world.

For example, I could never vote for a party or a leader that can’t say and doesn’t even know what a woman is. People should remember that when Labour MP Rosie Duffield tried to explain what a woman is, she was bullied and nearly forced out of the party.

From taking the knee for the divisive Black Lives Matter organisation, to being on their knees to the Trade Unions, and with Keir Starmer on Angela Rayner’s tight leash, I do hope the public is paying very careful attention to those election debates.

My worry is that people will sleepwalk into a socialist nightmare, and repent at their leisure.