Campaign reply: Autism Training 1 May

A number of constituents have contacted me asking me to attend the Autism training sessions that have been booked in Parliament on 1 May.

I agree that at a time where our understanding of autism is increasing, there are more people than ever before being diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. It is therefore more important than ever before that we know how to best help and support them and their families.

I will try to attend one of these sessions, Parliamentary business allowing, and will be interested to find out what more my staff and I can do to help.

Campaign reply - return medical cannabis to Emma Applebu

I have been contacted by some constituents asking me to intervene with the Prime Minister and Home Secretary and secure the return of medical cannabis to Emma Appleby.

While I have sympathy with the family in this case, I am unable to get involved with ongoing legal matters, nor regarding people who are not constituents living in the area I represent.

Cannabis is available by prescription for medical reasons in the UK but this rightly strictly controlled and regulated, with eligibility determined by doctors on a case by case basis.

If people have chosen to circumvent the system and travel abroad to purchase it, then they have to be prepared to face border security on their return.

Newspaper column 10 April 2019 - Keeping more of the money you earn

As I write this Brexit continues to dominate proceedings in Parliament. The situation is changing on a day by day basis. Last week things took several even more bizarre turns when firstly we had protestors gluing themselves to the public gallery windows while not wearing any clothes, followed by a leak in the Chamber, which meant Parliament had to rise early on Thursday in order to fix it, delaying the tabling of some business for this week.

Away from Parliament, last week saw excellent news as the amounts people can earn without having to pay tax went up again, the National Living Wage increased and fuel duties were frozen at the beginning of the new financial year.

The Personal Allowance went up to £12,500. The Personal Allowance is the amount you can earn before you have to pay Income Tax. You don’t have to pay income tax on the income you earn below this amount. As a result of the change, a typical basic-rate taxpayer will take home £130 more than in 2018-19.

Getting the Personal Allowance to £12,500 was a Manifesto Commitment of this Government and I am pleased to have seen it delivered one year earlier than previously planned.

As well as this we also saw the biggest ever increase to National Living Wage coming into effect from 1 April. Nationally, 1.8 million workers earning the National Living Wage will receive an additional £690 over the year from 1 April onwards.

This includes £7.70 per hour for 21 to 24-year olds, providing an additional £580 over the year for full-time workers, and £6.15 for 18 to 20-year olds, providing full-time workers with an additional £455 over the year. Taken together with changes to NLW, 2.1 million people will be receiving a pay increase, with workers in the retail and hospitality sectors due to benefit the most.

To put this into perspective, full-time workers receiving the National Living Wage will be more than £2,750 better off a year compared to 2015, when the rate was first announced.

As well as putting more money in your pocket and increasing the amount many people earn, the start of the new financial year also saw Fuel duty remain frozen for the ninth year in a row. This will remain at 57.95 pence per litre across the UK. This saves the average car driver £1,000.

This is all good news, allowing people to keep more of the money they earn and generating more money to put back into the economy and benefit everyone.

My team and I are here to serve the whole constituency and work hard to make a real difference to the lives of everyone needing support. The office is open to the public Monday – Friday 10.00am – 4.00pm (no appointment necessary). If there is an issue you would like my assistance on then please, either visit the office or contact me on either 01726 829379 or office@stevedouble.org.uk. Additionally, I hold regular, appointment only, advice surgeries across the constituency. Dates of these can be found at: www.stevedouble.org.uk/events

Campaign response - “Deliver Brexit on 29 March.”

A number of constituents have written to me with a campaign email “Deliver Brexit on 29 March.”

In an ideal world that is exactly what should have happened. The referendum was unequivocal. Article 50 laid out we would seek a deal and if not agreed we would go leave on world trade organisation terms.

With the House of Commons packed with MPs who are remain supporters, they have thwarted the will of the majority and thus there has been delay and uncertainty.

My focus and votes are always calculated to do what I can to see us leave the EU. We must honour Brexit. We must leave the EU. I will fight this all the way.

Campaign reply - latest on Brexit

A number of constituents have sent me a campaign email with various titles covering the governments handing of Brexit, the referendum and a further referendum.

One thing we can agree on is the handling of Brexit by both the government and Parliament in general has fallen short of what it should have been. There have been too many in Parliament who have undermined the governments negotiating position and worked to delay, dilute or prevent Brexit.

However, I believe it is vital that we deliver the result of the referendum and leave the EU. That is what I committed to do in the 2017 election and I intend to keep that commitment.

I do not share the  downbeat view of our future outside of the EU. We are the 5th largest economy in the world. I am confident we can and will continue to prosper after we leave. I also cannot accept that a county the size of the UK can only leave the EU on the terms they dictate – that is what saying we cannot leave without a deal actually means.

My views in a second referendum are well known and covered in blog posts already posted here but for the avoidance of doubt there are no circumstances that I will support such.

Campaign response – Revoke Article 50

A number of constituents who support a revocation of Article 50 have written to me asking if I would reconsider my position on Brexit.

It opens with “It’s a turd of a deal, but it’s better than crashing out; however, you must surely know that the best thing is to remain”.

I am glad that they have taken note of my particular choice of words in describing the Brexit deal which has been received much media attention.

That said, I disagree with the rest of their proposition as set out in the email, namely that we would be better off remaining in the EU and that “it makes no sense at all” to pursue Brexit.

My views on Brexit will be well known to them by now. 

What makes no sense to me and to the majority of the voters who for Brexit in the 2016 referendum is in fact any notion that we should revoke Article 50.

It is often forgotten these days that in 2017 the House of Commons voted by a majority of 384 votes (498-114) to trigger Article 50.

MPs including many who now advocate remaining in the EU, voted two years ago in favour of leaving of the EU.

The people of the United Kingdom, and the constituents of St Austell and Newquay especially by nearly a 2-1 margin, voted for our great nation to leave our membership of the European Union.

A key fundamental principle of our representative democracy is that when politicians go to the people to seek their views in a referendum or election, they are obliged to then deliver the outcome of that vote.

From the 1975 EEC Referendum to the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum, the politicians that allowed the national referendum to take place has always delivered on the results of that particular referendum.

This does not mean the people are then forever bound to that decision, but it is incumbent upon government of the time to always deliver the results of the referendum after it is held, before subsequent governments can go back to the people to seek their opinion a second time.

I do not write these rules; this is simply how democracy works.

I am a democrat and I believe that in order to safeguard our democracy we need to implement the will of the nation, as expressed in the results of the referendum, by leaving the European Union as soon as possible.

Our future is bright outside of the European Union and I will continue to work hard to ensure that we have a deal that fully delivers the results of the 2016 referendum and for every constituent.

Campaign response – UN report on Gaza

I would like to thank constituents who have recently contacted me regarding the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza border protests last year.

I am sorry to inform them that I do not sign Early Day Motions(EDMs), as apart from costing taxpayers unnecessary amounts of money, they rarely achieve any real change.

However I do share their dismay at the tragic loss of life in Gaza, which is a deeply concerning escalation in violence.

The UNHRC inquiry failed to examine the Hamas terror group’s involvement in the riots. For that reason the UK Government declined to support the subsequent report.

Hamas’s exploitation of a legitimate protest to further its well-documented violent intentions towards Israeli citizens is abhorrent. The terror group, which controls Gaza, encouraged riots and infiltration attempts into Israel, knowingly and deliberately putting Gazans in harm’s way. Social media was also used to encourage protestors to bring weapons hidden beneath their clothes.

Hamas Prime Minister Yahya Sinwar described the stated aim of the attempts to breach the border as follows: “We will take down the border and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies”.

The UNHRC report also neglected to note that in the first instance, Israeli soldiers used non-lethal crowd dispersal measures, with strict orders that they were only allowed to use live fire if their lives were in danger; if they saw critical border security infrastructure being damaged; or if they identified main instigators or a rush by a number of people towards the border.

Last Friday, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UNHRC explained the UK’s decision to abstain on a vote to adopt the report in question by stating that Hamas bear “principal responsibility as their operatives have cynically exploited the protests”. The UK Government has also made clear that the presence of a dedicated agenda item concerning Israel in every UNHRC session amounts to “systemic institutional bias” and is an “impediment to dialogue” between Israel and the Palestinians.

I am also deeply concerned about the increase in indiscriminate rocket fire into Israel from Gaza. On Monday, a long-range Hamas missile destroyed a home in central Israel, wounding seven members of the Wolf family who are originally from the UK, including a 12-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a 6 month old baby.

Over 60 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel this week, and Israel struck dozens of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire. I am extremely disturbed by reports that Hamas is planning a ‘million man march’ to mark the one year anniversary of the border protests. It is also gravely concerning that the terror group violently suppressed protest movements in Gaza last week.

No doubt my constituents share my view that until Hamas seeks peace instead of terror, there can be no progress towards a peace resolution with Israel.

It is important to note that as is befitting of a democracy, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have strict rules of engagement which conform to the laws of war, and Israel is currently carrying out an investigation into the conduct of its soldiers on the Gaza border.

Regarding arms sales, Israel is a long-term ally of the UK and shares many mutual interests, including close intelligence and military cooperation. As a country renowned for its high-tech expertise, the UK benefits from Israeli military technology. Israeli technology that the UK uses include battlefield medical technology, techniques for dealing with suicide bombers, and technology to counter remotely-detonated terrorist bombs. Israeli drone technology such as the Watchkeeper WK45 has also been used by British forces in Afghanistan for intelligence collection. These technologies have protected the lives of many British soldiers. 

An arms embargo on Israel and the wider boycott campaign stands to be damaging for UK-Israel bilateral relations, and is counterproductive to the peace process.

What is clear, above all, is that the need for a renewed peace process is more urgent than ever. The UK Government remains committed to a two-state solution through direct negotiations, and all parties involved as well as the international community must step up efforts without delay.