This week has been focused on getting my election campaign sorted, writing election leaflets and taking photos to go with them. I have been very grateful to those people who are happy to have had their pictures taken with me as it makes it more interesting for the reader.
There have been a lot of announcements this week on policy. Firstly, national service. It will consist of 30,000 places in the armed forces although not at the front line, and everyone else will do 12 weekends on various projects or jobs. I was astounded when I first heard, but on reflection, I am a supporter. I was on the board of the National Citizens Service (NCS), which can be a three-to-four-week programme for 16-year-olds and I have seen the transformation in many young people, especially those from low-income families. It is open to everyone, puts young people out of their comfort zone and helps prepare them for further education. A more advanced system for 18-year-olds sounds like a good idea and will bring people together. I was talking to someone this week who had done National Service and said what a great leveller it was with people from all walks of life. There will be a Royal Commission to see how it should work.
The next announcement was on Triple Lock Plus so that the personal allowance will rise and pensioners on the basic state pension will not pay any tax. I have written before about how the personal allowance would only be in the region of £8700 if it had stuck to just rising with inflation, but pensioners always had a much higher rate at £12,500, which is why we put it up for everyone. This comes with other pension benefits such as pension credit, free prescriptions, free bus travel and winter fuel allowances and they will all be kept.
I have had a lot of worry from people about the VAT on private schools as this will affect not just those paying for school fees but also local state schools that will not only not have capacity but also not be able to use the facilities which local private schools provide. I am especially worried about the smaller schools, especially those that cater for special needs. Many of them are run on a tight financial budget and most of the money goes on teachers’ salaries. I do not believe that it will bring in the tax that they are talking about and will cost a huge amount on extra places in the state sector. I have always believed in making state schools so good that no one would want to pay twice for their children’s education and this has been one of my focuses over the last couple of decades.
I had a very productive meeting with the Vice Chancellor at the University of Winchester. It was just after the announcement to stop funding of some degrees and an extra 100,000 apprentices. There are around 700,000 people in apprenticeships at the moment and it would be great to have many more. The university specialises in teaching professions – it used to be King Alfred College when I first lived in Winchester – nurses, midwives and police as well as having a humanities department. Interestingly, mature students seem to have decreased in applications, which is a shame as I think teaching is a great profession for those changing jobs.
Another fantastic couple of hours was spent at the cookery club at the Methodist Chapel in Swanmore where children were cooking a proper lunch for everyone. The puddings looked amazing as did all the salads and vegetable dishes. The ages went from six-17 and everyone was allocated a suitable task. Thank you to Mavis and the team for their time doing this every holiday for 20 years. One young person had just done his GCSE cooking and I suspect was inspired by his years of attending the cookery club. It was such a treat.
Now the leaflets are nearly written, I will be out knocking on doors and listening to what you have to say. Do stop me if you see me.
Have a great weekend.
