Campaign reply - FairFuelUK campaign

Thank you to those constituents who have sent me a copy of email from FairFuelUK seeking further support for hauliers during the corona virus.

In a reply to an earlier campaign email supporting the haulage industry I stated that  road transport forms a vital part of the infrastructure of the UK. We all rely on it.

Haulage remains a highly competitive business. I know many companies have ceased trading over the years whilst others have run successful and profitable businesses.

The government has in record time introduced a range of measures to assist businesses. The aim of the government  is that those that were viable before the medical crisis will be in a position to continue trading once it passes. The haulage industry presents unique circumstances and challenges and I will do all I can in making further representations to ministers to see what further help can be made.

Many will already be aware of the help the government is offering businesses in a multibillion-pound effort. More details can be found here: https://www.stevedouble.org.uk/covid19

The recent introduction of the bounce back loans is another widely welcomed measure. Here are some of the key features:

  Business banking and self-employed personal customers can borrow from £2,000 up to £50,000 for a fixed term of six years. The interest rate will be 2.5%.

  The Government will guarantee 100% of the loan and customers will not pay any interest or capital for the first year.

  To apply, customers should apply online to their bank.

  The application form will ask customers to consider a series of declarations.

  If customers are unable to apply online, they should call their bank to discuss next steps.

Having been in business myself for many years I am acutely aware of the pressures that virtually all businesses are facing right now and whilst I will continue to petition for more help on behalf of the haulage industry  I also firmly support the provision made by the chancellor to date.

Campaign reply - Stand with me for a democratic planning system

A number of constituents have recently contacted as part of the campaign ‘stand with me for a democratic planning system’

While the Government has had to put in changes to the way in which local councils can safely operate during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is up to the individual council as to how they conduct them.

In Cornwall Council’s case it has chosen to not hold any formal meetings at all, so far, during the pandemic.

I have included a link to their changes below for your convenience:

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/covid-19-impact-on-planning-processes/

Other councils have been able to hold virtual meetings and discuss planning matters during the pandemic and it is disappointing that Cornwall Council has not been able to do this yet.

It would also be easy using existing technology, to allow members of the public to attend and participate in these meetings.

I suggest residents with concerns about how Cornwall Council is doing business to contact their local Cornwall Councillor about this. You can find out who your Cornwall Councillor is by putting your postcode into the below link:

https://www.writetothem.com/

Nonetheless I hope that this way of working, which is necessary under the current circumstances but not ideal, will only last for as long as the lockdown restrictions last, and that regular meetings and participation will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so.

Campaign reply - “ URGENT New Starter Justice campaign”.

Some constituents have sent me a copy of a campaign email entitled “ URGENT New Starter Justice campaign”.

There is mention of an early day motion. As a principle I never sign early day motions as they very rarely achieve anything whilst at the same time running up costs to the tax payer.

Pay as you earn real time information (PAYE RTI) has been in place since 2013. It requires all employers to notify HMRC of their liability to PAYE when or before they pay employees.

This well-established, secure and verifiable system has been used by the government to reach out to literally millions of employees through the furlough scheme during the medical crisis. The government introduced the furlough scheme with astonishing speed bearing in mind the scale of the task.

Revising forward the cut-off date  following the announcement of the scheme, would leave the tax payer open to the significant risk of fraud.

There are other measures in place to help those who fall outside the cut off date or who are unable to revert to a previous employer for furloughing:

Cornwall Council have recently set up the People Hub hotline for more specific employment advice, which is available on:

0333 0150699 between 10am-5pm, Monday to Friday

Cornwall Council have a landing page for Coronavirus:

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-cornwall/information-about-coronavirus-covid-19/

Grants:

There is also a grant via Turn2Us for those in extreme financial hardship but it is temporarily closed, they do have a grant finder though:

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/Turn2us-Funds/Turn2us-Coronnavirus-Grant-Fund-closed

Also there are funds available directly from Cornwall Council hardship fund:

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/advice-and-benefits/benefits/benefits-and-coronavirus/

Newspaper column 6 May 2020 - VE Day

We are now in the seventh week of lockdown. Looking back to last week I was able to make a couple of appearances in virtual Parliament on matters relating to Cornwall while my team and I continued to assist people and businesses across the area with issues they need help with. It was also good to see our Prime Minister Boris Johnson back at work following his own bout with COVID-19. April must have been a rollercoaster of a month for him and his fiancée Carrie Symonds, who I was delighted to see welcome their new son, Wilfred, into the world on Wednesday.

This week I wanted to step back from the ongoing COVID-19 updates to look back at remembering Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), which we celebrate the 75^th Anniversary of on Friday 8^th May. I do believe it is important we continue to mark these important events in our national history so that we do not forget and today’s generations are able to appreciate the price that was paid for our freedom today.

The COVID-19 crisis is the biggest our nation has seen since the Second World War. VE Day is when we celebrate the formal acceptance by the Allies of Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on 8 May 1945 at the end of hostilities in Europe.

Some 60 million people died in the Second World War, including about 20 million military personnel and 40 million civilians. Many of the civilians died because of deliberate genocide, massacres, mass bombings, disease, and starvation. This included 17 million victims of Nazi genocide via the Holocaust and similar persecution.

Upon the defeat of Germany, celebrations erupted throughout the western world, especially in the UK and North America. More than one million people celebrated in the streets throughout the UK to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the palace before the cheering crowds.

A momentous event to mark our triumph after a long and difficult conflict. This year the early May Bank Holiday was moved to coincide with the VE Day Anniversary. Sadly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic all public events relating to the celebration have had to be cancelled. Nonetheless the day does bear marking and remembering and I am sure we will do all we can as individuals and households to mark the occasion and remembering the sacrifice so many made so we could live free today.

Of course, there are still members of that ‘Greatest Generation’ that lived or even fought in the Second World War, with us today. These people who, lived through the war, set us a great example as we ourselves live through the current crisis. Although I think we should be cautious when comparing our current challenge with those of World War II, it is good to know that then, as now, our nation is at its best when faced with adversity and will get through this if we all pull together and work for the common good.

As we look back in the coming days to remember the price people paid 75 years ago as they successfully stood against the tyranny of the Nazi’s and rebuilt our country in the years that followed, I am sure we would all agree that the challenges we face fall a long way short. I am sure we can find some inspiration from those times to remain determined to do whatever it takes to get through this crisis and defeat this virus.

But the 8^th May 1945 was a day to celebrate. To rejoice in the hard-won victory and look ahead to better days. And so, as Winston Churchill said on that day, "we may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing, but let us not forget for a moment the toils and efforts that lie ahead”. The country knew the end of the war was not the end of the challenge. The focus shifted from war to recovery.

In that there is most certainly a parallel for us all. There are clear signs to be encouraged that we are winning the battle against coronavirus. In this we can rejoice. But we should all be aware that rebuilding our economy is also going to take a collective determined effort in the months and years ahead. So, on Friday let us all enjoy a day to remember, be thankful and celebrate. And then let us refocus our hearts and minds to all play our part for the challenges ahead. 

Campaign reply - “Will you ensure airline bailouts protect workers and the climate?”

A number of constituents have sent me a copy of a campaign email entitled “Will you ensure airline bailouts protect workers and the climate?”

Airlines have made remarkable progress in recent years in reducing emissions and noise and improving efficiency. I have no doubt this will continue, and their aim is to be carbon neutral by 2050. A truly remarkable ambition and one I am confident they will meet.

They, along with their dedicated staff, have also played a vital part in assisting during the medical crisis such providing air freight services for the vital personal protection equipment  (PPE) sourced from around the world, the successful repatriation of thousands of UK citizens and mercy missions for those in need of urgent medical attention.

The future wellbeing of this vital part of our transport infrastructure and those that work within it will be key in the decisions taken as we emerge from the current situation. The government continues to support a vast swathe of businesses and families during the medical crisis and I fully support the action to date and the speed that help has arrived to so many.

Going forward none of us know the full impact on the world economy and how our own economy will fare. The government will continue to engage with all interested parties including the aviation industry to ensure that any help provided is in the long term  best interests of the workforce, the businesses involved and the wider economy. The future wellbeing of this vital part of our transport infrastructure and those that work within it will always have my full support.

Campaign reply - Universal Basic Income proposal

Thank you to those who have contacted me as part of a campaign around a Universal Basic Campaign.

This is not one I support and as such I did not sign the letter mentioned.

Each country have taken a different approach to providing financial support through the COVID-19 crisis. The UK’s coronavirus aid package is the second most generous in Europe, and one of the most generous when compared globally.

As for UBI more generally, while on the face of it the idea that every individual should receive a regular income from the government may seem like a fair and positive solution, this would present a whole range of different challenges.

Schemes of this nature are extremely costly and would benefit wealthy individuals who do not need this payment, which would be diverting funds from the most vulnerable.

The only research on it which is ‘promising’ are misleading because they are actively choosing extremely poor families in desperate need of money, and who under the welfare schemes we already have in this country would be eligible for financial support.

This article from the national Guardian newspaper from last year might also be of interest in explaining the issues behind UBI.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/06/universal-basic-income-public-realm-poverty-inequality

Thanks again to those who took the time write to me about this issue.

Campaign Reply: 'Please Help Keep Care Home Residents and Workers In Your Constituency Safe During Covid-19'

Thank you to all those who have emailed in with regard to this campaign.

Reporting for daily deaths in non-hospital settings has unfortunately historically had a lag in reporting, which has meant a delay in the statistics that Public Health England (PHE) and the government could release during the daily briefings and online via the gov website. Given the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19, commonly known as the Coronavirus, and the tragic number of deaths resulting from it outside of hospital settings the government recognised the priority of ensuring these figures are as up to date and accurate as they can possibly be. As a result, PHE have rapidly developed a new method of reporting daily Coronavirus deaths to give a more complete picture of those who have died from the virus.

From 29^th April, the government’s daily figure will include deaths that have occurred in all settings where there has been a positive Coronavirus test, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community. All of the figures previously reported have been revised retrospectively since the first death on 2^nd March to include the additional data sources not previously included and is therefore more reflective of the actual number of deaths.

It is important to note that this is in line with the trends seen by the Official of National Statistics (ONS) in their data, which already reports deaths not in hospital settings. It will remain the case that ONS data, which publishes every week with data from 11 days ago, includes suspected cases where a test has not taken place. ONS figures will therefore continue to include more deaths than the government’s daily series.

It is also important to highlight whilst discussing data of any kind that comparing statistics with other countries across the world should be done with caution. Each country is counting Coronavirus deaths differently and reported numbers alone do not take into account population numbers, density or many other factors.

I believe any death is a tragedy and this government is committed to using this enhanced data to better understand the impact this outbreak is having on those living in care homes so that we can continue to do everything in our power to protect them, as well as those in hospital and in the wider community. The government is committed to ensuring that those living in care homes continue to receive the best care possible and that both residents and care workers are adequately protected against this virus. We will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that all appropriate support including additional funding is available to assist care homes, social care workers and residents through this exceptionally challenging time.

This all underscores the importance of everyone staying at home and keeping safe. It is simply the best weapon we have to slow the spread of the virus. That way we can protect the NHS and save lives.

Thanks once again for bringing this matter to my attention, and I trust this swift action reassures you of this government’s commitment to this extremely important issue.