Newspaper column 30 March 2022 - The Spring Statement

 

Last week people in living in Mid Cornwall were shown once again that they can count on the support of this Government to help them through hard times. 

We must, however, remember that as we emerge from the pandemic the aftermath of the once in a hundred year event will be felt for some time to come, and that the steps we are taking to sanction Putin for the continued war in Ukraine are also not cost free for us at home.

The biggest impact will be on the cost of living for working families and I understand it is a big concern for many people living in the constituency and rightly so.

Rest assured that this Government is constantly listening to people's needs and responding to new challenges. That is why last week the Chancellor announced a new package of measures, which will see the biggest cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century to support not only workers and employers, but also help the most vulnerable.

These steps include:

•           Immediately slashing fuel duty by 5p for only the second cut in twenty years, the largest ever cut across all fuel duty rates. Conservative governments have frozen fuel duty for twelve consecutive years, but in recognition of the unprecedented circumstances pushing up fuel prices, this Government has gone even further and will be saving on average, car drivers £100, van drivers £200, and HGV drivers £1,500 this year. Furthermore, 40 per cent of the cut will benefit businesses.

•           Doubling the Household Support Fund - money for councils to support vulnerable households - to £1 billion from April, which is expected to help 3 to 4 million vulnerable households.

•           Raising the threshold people earn before they pay National Insurance. From July, people will be able to earn £12,570 a year without paying a single penny of income tax or National Insurance, a £6 billion personal tax cut for 30 million people across the United Kingdom and a tax cut for employees worth over £330 a year. This is the largest increase in a basic rate threshold ever, and the largest single personal tax cut in a decade.

•           Around 70 per cent of all workers will also have their taxes cut by more than what they will pay through the levy to sustainably fund the NHS and social care.

•           Increasing the Employment Allowance to £5,000, a tax cut worth up to £1,000 for half a million small businesses.

The Chancellor also announced that in 2024, for the first time in sixteen years, the basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20% to 19%, a £5billion tax cut for over 30 million people.

I am pleased, but not surprised to see the Government recognise that it must once again do everything it can to help families in Mid Cornwall through these challenging times. 

I know that some people will say these measures don’t go far enough to help people. However, you only have to look at this Government’s response to the pandemic to see how far it will go to ensure people receive the help they need. This Government took unprecedented action to support families, individuals and businesses through the furlough scheme and others, saving millions of jobs and thousands of businesses.

The Government has also already taken steps to help with the cost of living which has included reducing the Universal Credit taper rate, increasing the National Living Wage, and launching the Household Support Fund to help the lowest-income households with their bills.

Earlier this year the Chancellor also announced the Energy Bills Rebate, which will help households across the constituency with £9billion of support measures, including a £200 ‘smoothing’ rebate on energy bills for households, a non-repayable £150 cash rebate for homes in Council Tax bands A-D, equivalent to 80% of all households, and providing Cornwall Council with a discretionary fund of nearly £150m to help lower income households in higher Council Tax bands.

However, we can’t just continue to spend without limits, and it is only because this Government is capable of making responsible decisions to fix our public finances that we can help people out when they need it the most.

As ever, if I can be of any further assistance, my office is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 9 March 2022 - St Piran's Day and more

The past week ended with St Piran’s Day, Cornwall’s day to celebrate our identity, heritage and history, and I will come back to what I got up to mark this occasion later in the column. Cornwall’s motto is ‘Onen hag oll’ (One and All), and this apt description of our community spirit was in evidence like never before in the past week as communities from across the Duchy rallied to support the people of Ukraine following the continued invasion of their country by the Putin regime.

In Mid-Cornwall residents came together to provide donations of items to help displaced Ukrainians and these items were collected in Newquay from where they will be dispatched to Poland. My office has been helping to enable a smooth journey across Europe. However, Poland has now asked for donations of items to cease, due to cost and logistical issues with transporting and distributing it.

People are of course very welcome to donate towards the disaster relief efforts and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), 15 leading UK aid charities, have launched their Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The Government will match pound-for-pound the public’s first £20 million and look to increase this over time. This is our largest ever aid-match contribution. You can donate via this link: https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal   

A huge thank you to everyone who has worked to mobilise this support from our constituency. Once again demonstrating the generosity and big heartedness of people in Cornwall.

Away from the Ukraine situation, last week was a busy one for me. On Monday along with my Cornish MP colleagues I met with the Health Secretary to discuss a variety of health issues that impact on Cornwall. In particular we discussed NHS dental care and waiting lists, which I recently conducted a survey on, as well as access to GP services, ambulance waiting times and the particular pressures that are on Treliske Hospital. It is always good to be able to feedback issues reported to me to the very top of Government and I look forward to doing all I can to working locally and in Westminster to resolve them.

Keeping Cornwall connected is also still top of my priority list and last week I caught up with senior officers from GWR, Network Rail and Cornwall Council in Parliament to discuss the latest updates on the return of the London night sleeper, the upgrade of the Newquay Station and the exciting proposals for the Mid Cornwall Metro direct service from Newquay to Falmouth.

I also attended a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) reception hosted by the Renewable Transport Fuel Association in Parliament. SAF is fuel produced from sustainable feedstocks (such as commercial waste or biomass) that can be used in commercial and civilian aircraft with the potential of reducing carbon emissions by up to 70%.

SAF will play a crucial role in making flying greener in the coming decades. The Government wants to see SAF make up 10% of aviation fuel by 2030 and is investing to support the fast-growing SAF industry, an excellent way to make this method of travel greener.

Finally, back to St Piran’s Day, and on Saturday I was delighted to join the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project as a Pasty Judge. Well done to St Columb Major’s Cornish Premier Pasties who won both Gold and Silver in the Company Cornish Pasty category as well as to all of the other amateur and professional entrants for taking part. After having to celebrate St Piran’s Day virtually last year because of the pandemic, this year it was brilliant to see everyone celebrating together in person again, the sun shone and it was a brilliant showcase for everything Cornish, once again our ‘One and All’ motto serving us well, at times of celebration as well as at times of crisis.

If I can be of any further assistance, my office is always available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

 

Newspaper column 2 March 2022 - Ukraine

Last week the world woke up to the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has led to war returning to Europe after decades of peace.

This act of reckless aggression is not just an attack on Ukraine, but on democracy and freedom around the world and my thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainian people at this terrible time.

The Kremlin’s indefensible actions in undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty have been condemned by the UK and our allies, NATO, and the EU.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that the UK will not stand back and watch the Russian invasion of a democratic country of 44 million entirely unprovoked and with no legal basis. Our Prime Minister and government have been taking a global lead in building a coalition of likeminded countries to stand united against the actions of the Russian leadership against an independent and sovereign country, whilst providing support to the government, military and people of Ukraine.

Boris Johnson is in regular contact with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to assure him of the UK’s full support and the UK has set out an unprecedented package of sanctions, which show Putin that there will be severe, long-lasting consequences for his inexcusable actions.

The UK, in partnership with our international allies, has hit Russia with a wave of sanctions, which so far have included: starving the country of access to finance; expanding measures to prevent key goods and technologies from being exported to Putin’s regime; sanctioning over 100 more individuals and entities, including major bank and major defence sector organisations; and banning the Russian airline Aeroflot from our skies.

We need to be clear that our fight is not with the Russian people. Many of whom have made clear that they oppose the actions of their government. We need to take steps that will have the maximum impact on Putin and those that keep him in power and this is what we are seeking to do in our targeted approach. Putin and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have been hit directly by an assets freeze as part of the UK’s punishing sanctions to degrade the Russian Federation’s economy and military infrastructure.

A further package of military support to Ukraine is also being provided – on top of the support we have already provided – and will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons, and non-lethal aid such as body armour and helmets.

The UK is also in talks with our allies to ensure we have a coordinated response to prevent Russia from further undermining European stability.

Many have written to express their concerns over the displacement of Ukrainian refugees as a result of this conflict. I am pleased that the Home Secretary has confirmed to the House that a new humanitarian route enabling up to an additional 100,000 Ukrainians with family connections in the UK seeking safety and sanctuary here is already in operation. Home Office staff are working around the clock to prioritise the processing of Ukrainian applications and various requirements such as salary threshold have already been lowered. Where family members of British nationals or those with settled status do not meet lowered entry criteria but pass security checks, the Government will be going even further by offering them discretionary leave outside of the rules for 12 months. So far UK officials have already assisted hundreds of British nationals and their families in Ukraine to flee the conflict and this vital work continues.

We are also: Opening a new visa application centre for those applying for family migration to the UK; allowing Ukrainians to also apply through a visa application centre in nearby countries including Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary; enabling existing Ukrainian nationals in the UK to switch to the family visa or points based immigration route, free of charge; extending temporary visas in some sectors so Ukrainians can stay in the UK until December 2022.

I understand that invasion of Ukraine has left many of us feeling helpless and wondering what we can do to help. I am in discussions with local Cornwall councillors over how we can arrange a joined up and practical way to donate items.

In the meantime, you can donate via The British Red Cross which has launched a emergency appeal to help.

While we have seen some of the darkest days in recent history, we have also witnessed some extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism from the Ukrainian people, and I remain determined to do all I can to ensure they receive the support necessary to defend their country at this critical time.

If I can be of any further assistance, my office is always available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk