I voted for Labour as a young millennial & Keir’s already ruined it for Gen Z – it’s as painful as a UTI

AS someone who grew up under austerity with the coalition of the Conservatives and Lib Dems – I’ve been waiting for Labour to hold the reins of the country for over a decade.

But since they came to power, it seems Starmer and his colleagues are hell bent on nothing more than making life hard for people like me.

As a 29-year-old reporter living in London, I spend my time going to the pub, eating out and vaping – something their new policies will ruin, it seems life under Labour is about as much fun as having a UTI – painful and stops any chance of fun.

Thankfully, failures of Conservative Prime Ministers like Liz Truss whose time in office was infamously beaten by a lettuce and Boris Johnson’s Covid parties meant Labour could swoop in and win with no issues earlier in July – and I’m already sick of them.

When the election results rolled in – me and my millennial friend’s decided it was time to celebrate in the pub – clinking pint glasses together and popping the prosecco open – now it looks like we won’t even be able to afford it if Keir gets his way.

And we weren’t the only youngsters to vote for Labour in hopes of a better life, YouGov research found that over 40% of those aged 18 – 39 voted for them.

We were excited to see a new government take power – hoping key issues such as poverty, mental health, rent prices and food inflation would be tackled so we could maybe enjoy life again and be a little less stressed, it turns out we were wrong.

We all have different priorities in life that can sway our way of voting – mine is plain and simple – more money in my pocket, something the labour party promised to do.

Living under a rock

Living in London, most of my paycheck goes on daily living costs, rent, transport, council tax, bills and food. I’m constantly juggling my budget to ensure I can support myself – making going out to the pub for the occasional pint a well-needed treat.

But Keir Starmer has been in number 10 for barely ten minutes and he’s already shattering my dreams of an easier, more enjoyable life.

After housing costs – almost a fifth of the country are left in a state of absolute poverty, a measure used by government to indicate how many people cannot afford a set standard of living.

I might not be in that situation myself but it seems Keir and his band of knights in shining armour aren’t doing much to help them.

This month polls have shown that Keir and Labour are dropping in popularity with 55% of people thinking Britain is heading in the wrong direction.

The polls are likely to get worse as Keir and the cabinet left the public furious by accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts over the last few months.

Keir has paid back almost £6,000 in gifts including £2,800 spent on him enjoying the Swifty summer, while us normal folk had to save up for months to get our hands on just one of Taylor’s £200 tickets!

Not only that, but even Angela Rayner logged over £800 on her trip to Ibiza where she was spotted dancing on the DJ booth having a whale of a time – something many of us Brits could never afford.

Keir told reporters in Brussels yesterday: “We came in as a government of change.

“We are now going to bring forward principles for donations, because, until now, politicians have used their best individual judgement on a case-by-case basis. I think we need some principles of general application.

“So, I took the position that until the principles are in place it was right for me to make those repayments.”

However, one can’t help but wonder why even take the donations if you feel it’s ethical sketchy and your goal was to ‘clean up’ British politics? That is of course, unless you’re just sorry you got caught.

And that’s not all, Labour was left red-faced as a ‘cheat sheet’ to help MPs appear ‘normal’ was leaked.

Basic things like the price of bread or milk were placed on the confidential list as well as reminders of when people start paying tax, with a detailed breakdown of income tax thresholds.

This along with the freebies they’ve raked up since being in government just goes to show how out of touch they are with the public and it seems I’m not the only Gen Zer whose had enough of it.

While many did vote for Labour in the election, approval for the party among Gen Z’s has dropped by 9% in the last month alone.

Bottoms-up?

As someone just hitting 30 I don’t think it’s so wrong that I want to go to the pub on a Friday night with my friends and enjoy one (or several) beers just like Angela Rayner did in Ibiza this summer, but apparently I might be priced out of that too.

Heading to the pub isn’t cheap to begin with as the average price for a pint is £6.75 in London, but good old Keir and chancellor Rachel Reeves are discussing the prospect of putting prices up once again.

The new ‘sin tax’ Rachel Reeves is apparently eyeing up will see a price increase on pint of beer or cider, and a shot of spirits.

Not only is this horrible news for my bank balance, which is already suffering from food inflation as the ONS reports the overall price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose around 25% between January 2022 and January 2024, it’s also bad news for an already dismal nightlife scene.

Going out is hard enough in England, let alone London, it’s already too expensive for most people and most places close before 2am.

Our European counterparts like Berlin have clubs that stay open until 9am, New York, the city that never sleeps, has bars open throughout the night too – but London? You’re hard pressed to find anything past 12am letting people in.

The Times recently conducted research of the 12 biggest cities in England and how many venues were open past 2am.

London ranked the lowest on the list with just 5.9% of venues open later on a Saturday while Manchester ranked the highest with 15.8% – shabby work considering it’s the capital city.

It may sound like a small detail to moan about – but it has serious consequences on us all.

With the cost of living running rampant in London, it means many people, especially young people in hospitality are working long hours to cover their ever-increasing bills – and yet they have nowhere to go to celebrate the end of a hard week of working.

3,000 night economy businesses in London and surrounding boroughs have closed down since March 2020 – the steepest decline for any English region.

Rising the cost of beers will only see more punters ditch their local pubs and lead to yet even more social spaces closing – something London really doesn’t need.

Puff of fresh air

Not only that, there’s also discussions of banning smoking in pub gardens – where does the pain end?!

The fresh threat comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting called for a national debate on an outdoor smoking ban.

As a not-so-proud vaper, I find the new rule proposed ridiculous, yes it’s bad for you, yes we know it, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get the choice to do it if we want to.

People heading to pubs, particularly families, know full well what they’re getting themselves in for being surrounded by people having a drink.

It’s normal for people to want to have a smoke along with it, and if you don’t want to be around it – stay inside.

Streeting previously insisted he wasn’t the ‘fun police’ but it sounds to me like he’s the chief.

Reeves is also said to be planning to increase the levy on a packet of cigarettes.

I’m not saying smoking isn’t bad for you, in fact I fully support the ban of selling them to young people so they never get addicted.

But for those who already are, another price hike will just make their lives more miserable as they struggle to find joy in a country where everything is unaffordable.

I thought voting for them would make life a little easier for us all – not more doom and gloom.