stouravonmagazine.co.uk
16 New Stour & Avon, May 20, 2022
Political round-up
Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher
Government failures dominate complaints The Government clearly wants MPs to be kept very busy legislating over the coming months. This is apparent from the Queen’s Speech delivered on May 10. My emails and postbag, however, continue to be dominated by abject administrative failures in various branches of Government. No extra legislation is needed to tackle these problems but merely the restoration of high standards of public service. Despite having 100,000 more civil servants than in 2015, efficiency and effectiveness have deteriorated. The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was right to criticise the Head of the Passport Office for still working from home at a time when her organisation is manifestly failing the public. While the Passport Office’s failure to anticipate or respond to the rise in demand for renewals is inexcusable, it is no consolation to
Christchurch & East Dorset CHRIS CHOPE MP individuals if they are left worrying or complaining about the consequences. I, therefore, strongly advise everyone to submit passport renewal applications as early as possible, preferably several months in advance. They should also remember that some countries now require at least one year’s continuing validity on a passport as a condition of entry. MPs can make representations where
there is a genuine emergency but we cannot guarantee help for those who leave routine applications too late. That is why I am also supporting demands for improvements in real-time passport processing information and easy access to fast track services. n The practical difficulties of identifying and enforcing new controls and restrictions proposed in the Online Harms Bill must be addressed. A local community website recently fell victim to the Facebook censor for a posting which incorporated a wellestablished figure of speech. The description of a bargain price was ‘I would rip his arm off for that’. It was held to be against Facebook’s policy against violence and incitement. The richness of the English language must be protected. n It is disappointing when local councils feature in the ‘Rotten Boroughs’ section of
‘Private Eye’. Let us hope, therefore, that BCP Council will be transparent in responding to and allaying concerns about its councilowned regeneration company, Future Places. The council is giving the company two substantial loans to finance its work. But why is the company, according to Freedom of Information responses, already paying its managing director, chief operating officer and corporate engagement director salaries totalling £395,000 a year? There is no guarantee against the company being loss making and, therefore, unable to repay what it has borrowed. While the Government is quite correctly, in my view, intent upon reducing its rate of borrowing, the same isn’t happening locally where massive debt financing will become an increasing burden on local taxpayers for years to come.
UK government is only one increasing taxes
Politics is about choices. As the Spring Statement fades and summer approaches, the Chancellor still chooses not to help people across the country with the cost of living crisis. Let’s be very clear – he could help a lot more than he did. Inflation is pushing more and more of us into higher tax brackets. The Office of Budget Responsibility calculated that these surging tax receipts give Sunak at least £15bn more a year annually to play with, after debt servicing costs. Whilst a reduction in fuel duty is welcome to many in rural Dorset dependent on our cars, it does nothing to help, for example, the millions without cars reliant on universal credit or the state pension.
He callously left both with a real terms cut of three per cent. Politics with this government is also increasingly about deception and distraction. The small change in the earnings point at which we pay National Insurance (NI) from £10,000 to £12,000 is dwarfed by the £12bn a year ‘health and social care’ NI increase he announced just six months earlier. Sunak taketh away with one hand, and then giveth a smaller amount back with the other. For graduates though he takes with both, through increasing their student loan repayments as well. After 12 years of Conservative rule, taxes are now at their highest and disposable income dropping at its fastest since the Second
Dorset Labour GREG WILLIAMS World War. Every country in the world is struggling with inflation, but the UK is unique in the G7 group of large economies to choose to increase taxes coming out of the Pandemic. Plus, it’s the country in the G7 with the worst growth rate. The Tories are the party of
high tax because they are the party of low growth. They have no answer to the UK’s declining productivity, or the fact that international trade has collapsed by 12%. As families across Dorset continue to struggle, all we have is a hint here and an impromptu remark there that help is to come in the autumn. That’s no solace to everyone being hit by increases in the cost of food and energy right now. The Tories plan to hoodwink you into voting for them again with a tax cut before the next election. That’s the most cynical choice of all. When you choose how to vote when that election comes, just remember how this government chose to leave us all struggling.
