Vickram Grewal: Britain deserves better – that’s why I left the Labour Party

Vickram Grewal is a Conservative councillor in Hounslow.

Leaving Labour has been a long and deeply personal journey. Like many families who came to Britain seeking opportunity, mine grew up with an instinctive loyalty to Labour. As first generation immigrants, politics was simple: Labour was seen as the natural home, rarely questioned and often inherited.

But for many of us who grew up here, built careers here, and are now raising families of our own, lived experience tells a different story. The values that shaped our upbringing were not about dependency or state control. They were about family, hard work, personal responsibility, self reliance, respect for the rule of law and building something better for the next generation. Those are small ‘c’ conservative values, and they sit at the heart of the Conservative Party.

As I started a family of my own, I was forced to confront an uncomfortable truth. The policies I was advocating for by supporting Labour were no longer aligned with the values I lived by, nor with what I believed was best for Britain’s future. Encouraging people to vote Labour increasingly felt like asking them to accept lower ambition, higher taxes, and greater dependence on the state. I could no longer do that in good conscience.

It is now important to speak honestly to people who want the best for their families, their businesses and the country they call home. If you believe in hard work, aspiration and enterprise, and if you do not believe in an ever expanding state and a ballooning welfare system, with over one million more people on benefits since Labour came to power last year, then the Conservative Party is not an uncomfortable choice. It is the natural political home.

My decision to leave Labour is grounded in experience as well as principle. Before entering politics, I spent 12 years working in financial services, supported by an economics degree and a masters in finance. That background teaches one clear lesson: you cannot tax your way to prosperity.

The Laffer Curve is not ideology; it is economic reality. Beyond a certain point, higher taxes reduce activity, weaken incentives and ultimately shrink the tax base that funds public services.

Yet in just two budgets, Rachel Reeves has raised taxes by £66bn. These unprecedented increases are exactly what Rishi Sunak warned would happen under a Labour government. He was clear that higher taxes and economic uncertainty would cause long lasting damage. That warning has already been borne out.

Since Labour began raising taxes last year, wealth creators across the country have started to question whether Britain still wants them. Official figures show that around 250,000 working age people have emigrated. People vote with their feet when opportunity is taxed and ambition is punished.

Recent data shows multiple months of flat or shrinking GDP in late 2025. Growth has stalled and confidence has drained from the economy. Experts cite budget uncertainty and economic mismanagement as key causes. When a government taxes work, taxes investment and taxes success, growth does not slow gently. It stops.

I hear this repeatedly when speaking to residents and business owners. Many say the combined impact of Labour’s two budgets has pushed them to sell businesses, halt investment or look overseas. This is not abstract economics. It is real life, playing out in communities across Britain.

I also see it personally. My father is an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector. His experience is not unique. Thousands of small and medium sized businesses rely on confidence, stability and fair taxation. Under Labour, that confidence has been shattered. High taxes on working people and a pro welfare agenda have left many asking whether effort is still rewarded in this country.

Britain is drifting towards a model where the state grows while ambition shrinks. Success is treated with suspicion. Enterprise is penalised. Taxing prosperity to fund dependency is not compassion. It is decline.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher’s closest ally, I did not change my principles. I changed my political home. I did not leave my party. I found it.

The Conservative Party has shown that it can modernise without abandoning its principles. David Cameron’s A list changed the face of the party and demonstrated that talent, values and contribution matter more than background. It helped bring forward leaders such as Sunak, Kemi Badenoch, Sajid Javid and Priti Patel, figures who reflect modern Britain while standing firmly for Conservative values.

Under Badenoch’s leadership, that tradition continues. She understands that prosperity is created by people, not by the state. And voters are responding. The shift we are seeing reflects a growing recognition that Labour cannot tax, spend or slogan its way to growth.

I did not leave Labour to make a statement. I left to make a difference, for my family, for those who work hard and play by the rules, and for everyone who wants a country that rewards effort, enterprise and responsibility. Only the Conservatives can deliver that future.

That is why I left Labour. And that is why I am proud to stand with the Conservative Party.