Last week a colleague of mine asked if I could get her a couple of Twirls when I went for lunch.

I went up to the till and was quite amazed when together the two bars cost just under a pound.

I remember when chocolate bars were 25p, bus fares were 40p and crisps were 20p - and I’m not talking about that long ago either.

As highlighted by the Daily Express today, the cost of living is going up under Labour - and it's unfair.

For those of us who are employed on permanent contracts, pay remains the same despite the steep increase in prices of travel, food and petrol.

If I fancy going for a drink after work these days I have to think again and it's the same with food and even doctors' prescriptions.

And when prices go up they don’t come down do they?

How can that be fair on young working people like myself trying to get ourselves started in life?

How can hardworking taxpayers like me and my girlfriend consider settling down, starting a family and buying a house when even the smallest everyday items just keep getting more expensive?

To top it all off I’m still paying my student loan (introduced under a Labour Government of course) which with interest is nearly £12,000. So I am in thousands of pounds of debt before I’ve even really started my working life.

I am not one of these people who lives outside of their means. I’ve never owned a credit card and never intend to, yet I still remain in my overdraft with no real way of clearing it until I start to earn more money.

Labour has got a lot to answer for with regards to my generation and all of the young people who are trying to make a start in life.

We are being forced into becoming a nation of borrowers just to make ends meet and I think Gordon Brown’s humiliating u-turn over the 10p tax just shows that he has no idea what to do.

I just pray that Labour don’t mess it up so much that when the Conservatives do come back into power it will be too late.