Campaign response - Please stand up for nature

I am grateful to my constituents who have taken the time to contact me about my support for the Government’s Agriculture Bill.

In September the Government introduced the Agriculture Bill, which has had its Second Reading on 10 October and is currently under scrutiny by MPs in the bill committee.

Food and farming is a bedrock of our economy and environment, generating £112 billion a year and helping shape some of our finest habitats and landscapes. Cornwall in particular is an agri-food powerhouse, with 30% of those of working age employed in agri-food and food retail, compared to the UK average of 15%. The Government will continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of this Parliament in 2022. Once we have the freedom to move away from the Common Agricultural Policy as a result of our leaving of the European Union, the proposal is for an 'agricultural transition' period in England, allowing farmers to prepare for a new system.

Brexit creates a once in a generation opportunity to design a domestic agricultural policy that will stand the test of time. Starting from first principles we can bring in innovative new ideas to support investment in healthy, sustainable British food production and do much better for farming, the environment and animal welfare. The Government proposes to move to a system of paying farmers public money for public goods: principally environmental enhancement.

Ministers have consulted widely with farmers and others, and have published the Agriculture Bill alongside their response; it focuses mostly on England because they recognise that devolution provides each administration with the powers to decide its own priorities. They are keenly aware of the importance of seasonal labour, so will work with the industry to ensure it has the right people with the right skills.

We must take this opportunity to use public money to reward environmentally-responsible land use, as well as maintaining and enhancing high standards of animal welfare. We will harness this opportunity and ensure that our best days as a food and farming nation lie ahead of us.

Campaign response - Help deliver a world-leading Environment Bill

I have recently received a number of emails from my constituents regarding the Environment Bill, which will set out a legal framework for the government’s promise to leave the environment in a better state over the next 25 years.

The Government’s 25-Year Plan to Improve the Environment is available on: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan/25-year-environment-plan-our-targets-at-a-glance

The Prime Minister has made clear on many occasions that we will not weaken environmental protections when we leave the EU.

This Bill is another key step towards achieving a Green Brexit and it will help to ensure Britain can be cleaner and greener for future generations.

Details of the bill’s contents will be brought forward in due course. I will be supporting this and other legislations in Parliament which will allow us to be better stewards of our environment.

We have a great track record on the environment to be proud of. For example, the Government has already:

·         Planted more than 11 million trees, including one million trees in our towns and cities. England’s woodland cover is now expanding at a rate that hasn’t been seen since the fourteenth century.

·         Cleaned up 10,000 miles of rivers and waterways – more than the length of the Amazon and the Nile combined.

·         Published the National Ecosystem Assessment, the Natural Environment White Paper and the Biodiversity Strategy, setting out the Government’s plans for protecting ecosystems, wildlife and natural habitats. £7.5 million has been provided to establish 12 Nature Improvement Areas, providing space for wildlife to thrive, plus a further 148,000 acres of priority habitats.

·         Committed up to £720 million to the Green Climate Fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change and transition to a low carbon economy.

·         Published the UK’s first Solar Strategy which sets out the ambition to see solar rolled out more widely across the country. Since 2010, half a million homes have chosen to install solar technology.

·         Invested in renewables. Since 2010, the amount of money invested each year in renewable electricity production has doubled compared with the previous Parliament. As a result, 2017 was the cleanest and greenest year ever for electricity when we had the first full day without coal power since the Industrial Revolution.  The rise of renewable energy also helped to break 13 clean energy records in 2017.

·         Introduced the 5p charge for plastic bags which has drastically reduced the number of plastic bags distributed. Our 5p plastic bag has seen nine billion fewer carrier bags being distributed since the charge was introduced. This has led to a reduction of 83 per cent and £95 million has been donated to environmental, educational, and other good causes.

·         Legislated to ban microbeads. A ban on the manufacture and sale of products containing microbeads came into force earlier this year. We have asked a specialist committee to review evidence on the use of microplastics in a range of products, and their chances of reaching the seas, and we are commissioning further research to better understand the impact of microplastics in the marine environment.  Ministers are also consulting on plans to ban the sale of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. This, alongside the forthcoming consultation on a deposit return scheme for single use drinks containers, should lessen the potential for material to become microplastic in the long term.

·         Reduced carbon emissions by 6 percent since 2010 contributing to a 27 per cent reduction since 1990. Ministers are determined to ensure we become a world leader in the new green economy.

·         The recent publication of the Agriculture Bill sets out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for "public goods", such as better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding.

Furthermore, the Chancellor announced at the Budget this week that the government will be introducing a world-leading new tax on produced or imported plastic packaging. Alongside already planned reforms to the Packaging Producer Responsibility System, this new measure will encourage businesses to ensure that far more packaging can be recycled and to use more recycled plastic in their packaging. Consultation on both reforms will be launched soon.

The decision to leave the European Union has created an historic opportunity to review our environmental policies. Outside the EU we can develop global gold standard environmental policies, not just to halt or slow environmental deterioration, but to raise our ambitions, restoring nature and reversing decline. We can, and I believe we will, be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it.

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Campaign response - 38 Degrees Universal Credit

I have recently been contacted by a number of constituents as part of a 38 Degrees campaign on Universal Credit.

I have spent a lot of time meeting with both claimants and staff who at the Department for Work and Pensions offices in St Austell and Newquay about Universal Credit and the impact its rollout is having in Mid-Cornwall.

I recently spoke at length about the experiences with Universal Credit I have been told about during a debate in Parliament

I have included a link to my speech below which I hope you will find of interest.

https://www.facebook.com/720477027977910/posts/2717357471623179/

I was also pleased that following my calls to increase the work allowance for Universal Credit the Chancellor announced at the recent Budget Statement a £1000 increase that will give all households in work and claiming Universal Credit an additional £630 per year.

I am always happy to support individual cases who need assistance with their claims should they wish to get in touch.

I will continue to work within the Government to ensure the benefits system we have is fit for purpose and fair for all.

Campaign response - Let's bring Dubs children to the UK before the end of the year

Last month I received a number of emails from my constituents asking for my support in ensuring that safe passage be given to the 480 unaccompanied refugee children under the so called “Dubs Amendment”.

MPs and Peers have been assured by the Government that ministers remain “fully committed to delivering our commitment to transfer the specified number of 480 children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and are working very closely with Member States, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGO partners to identify and transfer children to the UK in line with each individual Member State’s national laws.”

According to a recent response to a parliamentary question on the progress of resettling unaccompanied child refugees, ministers said that over 220 children are already resettled in the UK and “transfers are ongoing”.

In addition to intake from the Dubs Amendment scheme, the Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) resettles at-risk refugee children from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including their families. The scheme does not solely target unaccompanied children, but on UNHCR’s advice also extends to vulnerable ‘children at risk’, such as those threatened with child labour, child marriage and other forms of abuse or exploitation. It is open to all at risk groups and nationalities within the region.

The Government aims to resettle up to 3,000 people (children and families, where the child at risk is part of a family unit) through the scheme by 2020 through VCRS, which is the largest resettlement effort aimed specifically at children at risk from the MENA region. This programme in addition to the Government’s commitment to resettle 20,000 refugees from Syria under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS).

It is important that the Government fulfil its current commitment and continues to make safe humanitarian pathways to resettlement available for the most vulnerable refugees, especially unaccompanied minors. I will be seeking to raise this with the Minister for Immigration when I next see her.

Campaign response - Tethering Campaign: #BreakTheChain

The issues raised around tethering of animals is one worthy of careful consideration.

You raise a number of points and concerns and highlight scenarios where animal welfare maybe compromised.  We must also take into account that many animals are well cared for so whilst I share your concern over any animal distress, anywhere, we must be careful that any new legislation reflects the freedom to continue owning animals in diverse and different ways.

I will be sure to raise the issues you raise when I next see ministers.

Campaign response - A bad Brexit deal will damage our economy

This campaign on issues over Brexit opens with “As your constituent, I want you to know that I believe that the Brexit deal now being proposed will be a disaster for our country.”

For me this is wrong on so many levels: we don’t know the deal for a start! Also whilst there are those who focus solely on finances the vast majority of my mail bag is from constituents imploring me to ensure we leave the EU so that we can take back control of our borders, fishing grounds and money – even if that means the UK is worse off. I don’t think that will be the case and every forecast post referendum saying otherwise has consistently been completely wrong. I have no reason to rely on these reports and neither does anyone else.

The only issue that will “cloud our democracy” will be if the majority, having won the referendum in what was described by all sides during the campaign as defining and definitive now see the democratic process overthrown by those who want to have second go because the masses “ did not understand what they were doing…” Elitist nonsense and I will have none of it.

As the negotiations continue we will see just how awkward the EU become in the hope we might buckle and if I needed any further proof that we need out of the inevitable United States of Europe then now I have it. 

I have written more on this for the few who are in touch wanting a second go at voting and copy it below:

I backed a people’s vote in 2016. Our constituency voted by almost 2-1 in favour of leave, the biggest margin in Cornwall.

I voted to leave and I believe my job as a parliamentarian is to get on with delivering the results of the people’s vote.

I am committed to delivering the results of the referendum, nationally and locally, by ensuring that we leave the EU on 29 March 2019. It is vital for our democracy we respect the decision the British people made in 2016’s referendum and deliver what the people voted for.

Additionally, during the election campaign last year I stood on a very clear message that I would respect the result of the referendum and work to deliver Brexit. I received a clear mandate in that election receiving and biggest vote and biggest majority ever seen in the constituency.

I, along with vast majority of my colleagues in Parliament, are of the opinion that the referendum on the UK’s membership of European Union was a clear and fair vote, demonstrating that we as a nation are in favour of leaving the European Union. Those suggesting that somehow people did not understand what they were voting for are both patronising and disrespectful.

I do not support another referendum. Not only would it not be respecting the 2016 vote, which was a people’s vote, it would also undermine the negotiating position. It would also cause further delay and uncertainty.

The vast majority of people tell me they simply want us to get on with things and leave. Businesses in particular want to know, as soon as possible what the future will hold.

It is doubtful there would even be time for another referendum within the time available but even if it could be shoehorned into the schedule, the delay and certainty would be the last thing we need.

Of course there is also the question that if we held another referendum, if there were people unhappy with the result of that one, would they then want another one, and so on until they got a result they were happy with? That isn’t 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.

Every week my post bag burgeons with constituents seeking assurance that we will have a full and meaningful Brexit as compared with just a very few who of alternative view.

Your concerns over the future prosperity of the UK is in stark contrast to the economic data thus far and that is before we have left the EU.

We all want to protect our democracy and that means accepting the outcome of the ballot box. I intend to do just that and continue to strive for Brexit.

Newspaper column 31 October 2018 - The Budget

This week started with the Autumn Budget, which saw a number of announcements that are good for Mid-Cornwall.

Firstly I was pleased to see the Chancellor announce a minimum extra £2bn a year for mental health services, something which is so important to see addressed in today’s society. In Cornwall we have already seen this Government move forward with the new mental health inpatient unit for young people that is currently being built, and this additional funding is much welcomed, as well as the additional announcement of a new mental health crisis centre, providing support in every accident and emergency unit in the country.

Also in terms of social care I was pleased to see the Government provide an extra £700m for councils, on top of the winter pressures money already given previously, for care for the elderly and those with disabilities.

I was also pleased that following my calls to increase the work allowance for Universal Credit the Chancellor announced a £1000 increase that will give all households in work and claiming Universal Credit an additional £630 per year. Along with increasing the National Living Wage to £8.31 per hour and raising the personal tax allowance to £12500 this Budget will put more money in everyone’s pockets who is in work.

In recent years I have successfully campaigned for Cornwall Air Ambulance to get extra funding and I was pleased to see the Chancellor confirm an additional £10m of funding for these vital services across the country.

Of course it is also important to support businesses which are the lifeblood of our economy and I was pleased to see the Chancellor announce £900 million to cut business rates by one third for two years, for retailers with rateable value of under £51,000, saving up to 90 per cent of all shops up to £8,000 each year, and building on previous reductions worth more than £12.5 billion.

This goes along with a £675 million for a Future High Streets Fund and a new High Streets Taskforce. This will support councils to implement plans for the transformation of their high streets.

It was also good to see, beer, cider and spirits duty frozen for another year, supporting patrons of the Great British pub. The Budget also included a fund of £10million to support our fishing industry that local fisherman are set to benefit from.

Turning to our transport infrastructure, the Government announced an additional £420 million available immediately to help tackle potholes, bridge repairs and other minor works, as well as £150 million to improve local traffic hotspots such as roundabouts.

Finally, it was also great to see the Chancellor recognise my campaign and stopping operators of public toilets, often hard-pressed parish councils, from having to pay business rates in the future.

This was a good Budget for Mid-Cornwall and I now look forward to working to ensure we get our fair share of the national funds that have been announced today.

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