My last roundup was before the summer recess and so much has gone on in the world and in politics since then. Parliament has been very disjointed since September. This week has been only the second Parliamentary week. The first ended with the death of Her Majesty followed by the party conference season.
I am very sorry to see the Chancellor leave office. However, it was the right decision because of the reaction to his mini budget. It is now up to the Prime Minister to steady the ship and give the country some stability. She has listened and acted.
I supported Rishi Sunak as leader because I preferred his economic policy and he had explained to me that the increase in corporation tax would only affect bigger businesses. I am pleased this policy will now happen. He added they would also get more tax incentives for investment which would help growth.
Liz Truss made it very clear what she was thinking during the leadership election but I am afraid this is the wrong time to be decreasing taxes following the costly pandemic and an uncertain world fraught with cost-of-living issues. The right time to do that is when the economy is doing well and we have stability.
I do not think anyone disagrees with the Prime Minister’s growth strategy longer term. But now is not the time to spend more and cut taxes. That’s what the markets thought and it is quite clear that could not be ignored.
However, I am pleased that we have given considerable help to people on the cost of energy, with the most vulnerable receiving the most. I am running a cost-of-living event on Friday 21st October in Wecock Farm which is one of the areas of most deprivation in the constituency but everyone is welcome.
This week in Parliament we voted to reverse the increase in National Insurance. I had previously voted for this increase as I was pleased that the money would be ring fenced for social care so this was a difficult vote. I am comforted it will help people with the cost of living and companies in particular but I am concerned about funding for future social care with an elderly population. I have been assured that money will be put aside from general taxation, but I will be tracking this very carefully. I know that care staff are very anxious about the future and they need to be paid better.
I had an interesting meeting with the UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths on Thursday. Martin used to be in charge of negotiations in Yemen so it was a good chance to catch up with his thoughts on the ending of the truce there and also ask about the funding for UNRWA, the organisation that has looked after the displaced Palestinians since 1948 as it needs more money. Nickie Aiken, the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster joined us.
Martin said that money for humanitarian needs around the world is very underfunded and talked about how climate change is affecting poorer countries, Somalia has suffered six years of drought. We saw what happened to Pakistan over the summer. I will be talking to the ambassadors of the Gulf States to see why they are not contributing more. I also wrote to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to ask for the embassy in Israel to remain in Tel Aviv and not move to Jerusalem.
I have now visited most schools in the constituency and never cease to be impressed by the standard of education that we have in both very small rural villages and larger schools. Children have a great start in Meon Valley and it has been interesting to see the growth in forest schools with children being outside for lessons. I recently visited St John's C of E Primary School in Rowlands Castle, and I am looking forward to Padnell Junior visiting Westminster on Monday morning when my team and myself will show them round. I keep every Monday morning free for constituents to visit so please book in if you haven’t been – just email my office.
I also visited Havant Thicket where the reservoir is being built, but a lot of conservation and replacement planting is also taking place. Definitely worth a visit, you can still walk around outside the site and it will be interesting to do so before it is filled in a couple of years.
I continue to catch up with visits following covid, I think people forget that covid has stopped me from being out and about as much as I would have liked but please let me know if there is something that you would like to see. I really enjoyed the Bishops Waltham Photographic Society’s exhibition last week and was amazed by the brilliance of the photographers.
I have just held a forum on rural crime with the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones. She was accompanied by Inspector Korine Bishop. The panel also included Community Safety Officer Gary McCulloch, and Gary Brown from Winchester City Council.
The event at Meon Hall in Meonstoke was well attended, and I am looking forward to my next forum on health at Denmead Community Centre on November 18th.
Have a great weekend!
