THE pending closure of Tilbury Power Station, with the loss of several hundred local jobs, may be a tipping point for many in Thurrock.

While top-level local politicians may argue the detail of who is to blame, us workers will be asking “am I next?”.

What will happen to my monthly pay cheque and what are my chances at my age of finding a new job if the worst happens?

What are these awful zero hours contracts I hear about, that a million workers in the UK must endure in order to survive? Thankfully, for most of us these employment fears will not be realised.

However, as with all the times that Tories have been in Government, there will be consistent and aggressive attacks on our NHS. The waiting list culture has returned under this Tory watch again. That support group you relied on, following a major operation, no longer exists.

Let’s transfer responsibility for public health from the NHS, but let’s screw Thurrock Council for the public health budget allocation to fund it. Those are Tory cuts for you.

Increasingly, as a general election approaches in 2015, people are asking us what an alternative Labour Government will mean for them. While Thurrock currently has no ambitions to be a London borough, people still retain strong links with the Capital.

We are finding Thurrock people, many of whom voted Conservative in 2010, are increasingly serious about their future voting intentions and carefully considering the Labour alternative.

CLLR MARTIN HEALY Labour, Grays Riverside.