Here’s the new Labour website totting up ‘cost of chaos’ under Rishi Sunak

Labour has launched a new website on the “cost of chaos” under Rishi Sunak, claiming that his government’s “permanent state of disarray” will cost the taxpayer £8.2bn and result in 314 “wasted days”.

The website – which was unveiled this morning and can be found here – details the amount of money and time Labour has calculated will be “wasted” during the Prime Minister’s time in office, as the opposition party gears up for the local elections next month.

According to Labour, “chickening out” from holding a general election on May 2nd has cost the taxpayer £33.2m, while by-elections to replace Tory MPs during Sunak’s premiership will cost £2m.

The party also highlighted rising mortgage costs following Liz Truss’ “disastrous mini-Budget“, calculating that homeowners are facing £4.1bn in additional costs.

The party claimed that “Tory immigration chaos” has cost the taxpayer £2.6bn and argued that the government’s “chaotic handling” of the asylum system “has seen the growth of a huge backlog and a huge bill for the taxpayer”.

According to the website, 26 working days in parliament have been “lost due to Rishi’s zombie parliament”, with the opposition party calculating that parliament would have gained 185 hours to debate if it had been sitting for the same amount of time as it did on average under the last Labour government.

The website – which has been launched alongside a ‘cost of chaos bill’ – claims that Sunak “has thrown the country into limbo with a potential 272 lost days” if he chooses to wait until January 28th 2025 to call a general election, the latest date the next election could be held.

National campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said: “Rishi Sunak has presided over a Conservative Party in chaos and has saddled the taxpayer with the bill.

“These shocking costs are the result of a party out of ideas, more interested in looking inwards than facing, and delivering for, the country. The country needs change, and it is a Labour government that will deliver it.”

But Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden claimed that the campaign was a “desperate attempt to distract from the scandal engulfing Angela Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer’s top team”.

He said: “Instead of wasting time with dodgy websites, the Labour Party should set out their plans. But the truth is they can’t because they have no plan for this country, and that means they would take us right back to square one with higher taxes, more borrowing and higher unemployment.”

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