Life in Parliament continues to give me firsts. This week I attended the Budget reading for
the first time. As you may have seen on
the TV, the House was packed and very noisy, but it was an amazing experience,
especially as the Chancellor’s Budget was so far-reaching.
The Conservative Government continues to deliver on its
manifesto promises. The Budget was
designed to deliver security to working people and to keep us moving from a low wage, high tax, high
welfare economy to a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare country.
Cornwall and our constituency featured strongly in the
Budget. The Chancellor spoke of the
steps towards devolving more power to Cornwall in his speech and I will continue
to work with the five other Cornish Conservative MPs to ensure that Cornwall
has a solution that makes sense.
Although not mentioned in the main speech, the following
announcement was also made on Wednesday; “The government reaffirms its commitment to £7.2 billion investment in
transport infrastructure in the South West over this Parliament. The government will provide local councils
with funding to support the development of business cases for the North Devon
Link Road, and the A391 in Cornwall.”
The
development of the A391 from the A30 into St Austell is extremely important and
something that I campaigned on during the General Election. St Austell needs improved connectivity to
unlock inward investment and villages such as Roche, Bugle and others, will get
a much-needed bypass. I will continue to
fight to ensure this new infrastructure becomes a reality.
The broader
budget introduced many changes; the new National Living Wage combined with the
income tax cuts are excellent news for hardworking people in St Austell and
Newquay and shows we will deliver what we promised. The rise in the personal allowance will mean
lower taxes for around 48,851 working people here in St Austell and Newquay,
with an estimated 939 people taken out of income tax altogether. These changes,
along with the further reforms to tax credits, and the welfare cap, are
designed to support people into work and make the welfare system sustainable
for the future.
These reforms mean that it remains important that we attract
new investment and jobs into our constituency.
Better-paid jobs and lower taxes will provide economic growth in our
area and give local people a better standard of living with more money in their
pockets. Therefore, I will continue to
focus on job creation.
The measures introduced in respect of apprenticeships will
also help our constituency and I strongly support this programme. In an area dominated by small businesses,
apprenticeships represent a way to bring continuity and growth to these
businesses.
I would
appreciate hearing your views on the Budget and any other matters that concern
you. For a direct response please email
me on office@stevedouble.org.uk
Otherwise,
I post regularly on Facebook www.facebook.com/stevedouble2015 so please join the page and follow
what is going on. Alternatively you will
find regular updates on my website www.stevedouble.org.uk and you can follow my blog http://stevedoubleforstaustellandnewquay.blogspot.co.uk.
