Chipping Barnet MP THERESA VILLIERS finds Crewe's electorate worried by spiralling household bills and a gloomy economic forecast Leaving aside all the hot air generated by the Crewe and Nantwich by-election result, there was one conversation that really stood out for me from the campaign trail.

I had popped into a fish and chip shop, close to Gresty Road, home of Crewe Alexandra football club, to get something to eat after a long day knocking on doors.

As we waited for a fresh batch of chips to fry, the people working there talked to me about how worried they were about their costs going up - particularly energy bills - yet they did not dare pass these costs on to their customers, many of whom were feeling the pinch themselves.

That kind of anxiety is spreading right across our towns and cities.

Time and again, I met people in Crewe, just as I have here in Barnet, angered by Gordon Brown's doubling of the 10p tax band.

It is not the wealthy who have been hit by the change Gordon Brown introduced in his last budget as Chancellor, it is care-workers, catering staff, cleaners and shop assistants who are affected - people already struggling to make ends meet with rising household bills and the worsening economic climate.

Then we see the Prime Minister, panicked by the pending disaster in the by-election and threatened with defeat in Parliament, suddenly conjure up a compensation package for some of those losing out - a package that will last only one year and cost £2.7 billion of new Government borrowing.

No wonder Jan Berry, spokesman for the police, tore into Jacqui Smith last week, demanding to know why Gordon Brown can suddenly find £2.7 billion to try to get himself out of the 10p tax hole into which he had dug himself and yet not find £30 million to honour the recommendations of the independent body on police pay.

That highlights one of the biggest ironies here. As with the election that never was' back in September last year, this latest wound to the Prime Minister is self-inflicted.

His main reason for doubling the 10p tax band was to try to wrong foot David Cameron on budget day. And the Prime Minister has compounded his error.

For years, he falsely accused Conservatives of promising imprudent tax cuts and yet, in the blink of an eye, he was suddenly prepared to add another £2.7 billion to the nation's mortgage for temporary tax cuts and a short-term fix for his political problems.

No wonder people in Crewe viewed this as a cynical pre-election bribe, disregarded it and came out in droves to vote Conservative.