What a mess! What is happening to the nation caused by a succession of hopeless political leaders might at first seem to some to a bit abstract.

But believe you me, it is not.

It is hitting everyone, and is not mainly caused by world affairs as you might be led to believe.

The cost-of-living crisis, the soaring rate of inflation, the cost and availability of mortgages are all a direct result of the decisions taken by Prime Minister Liz Truss and her shuffle-in-shuffle-out team.

And my council, Monmouthshire, is already feeling the pain, as are you all in one way or another.

We came into office, for the first time after 25 years of Tory control, knowing that we had already been ‘gifted’ a forecasted deficit of £13m by 2025.

It gets worse: we were left with the third lowest reserves in Wales.

Difficult decisions, which needed to be made as Covid funding dried up coupled with the impact of poor investment decisions, were kicked down the road by the previous administration.

We had already identified a big gap in our current year’s budget. But the ‘Truss effect’ has made matters even worse.

Like the rest of you, and businesses everywhere, we are experiencing pressures which are way outside of our control, or that of the Welsh government. They come from one place: Westminster.

We stand on the brink of recession with the slowest growth of any major economy in the world outside Russia.

We know that the threat of public spending cuts looms large over a nation where public services have been cruelly underfunded for more than a decade.

Choices made on public service funding by Westminster translate into funding-famine for our devolved government.

Consequently, Wales’ funding settlement is already unfairly reduced, and there is no prospect that it will fare any better under our new prime minister.

Soaring inflation and other factors, caused by decisions in Downing Street, mean that the Welsh government’s budget is already £4 billion less.

Locally, we are working to address the shortfall responsibly. Our focus is on key services and prioritising stability and delivery. Always ensuring that we tackle inequality and protect the environment as we do so.

As a council with a large area and a mixed population, we are wed to an agile, innovative approach to provide stable, responsible, management of services, resources and finance.

We will concentrate on providing the services our communities need and value. To this end, we are committed to honest and open consultation with residents on the budget so we can hear what is important to residents and communities as we prepare to make challenging choices.