Gideon's MP Column

The cost of living needs to remain top priority so new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government cutting VAT on electricity bills, capping bus fares at £2, and giving a 20% reduction in business rates for pubs and clubs are all welcome. But, so far, that constitutes not much more than tinkering around the edges. 

Unfortunately, the VAT cut will be eaten up by the OFGEM price cap rise, capping the bus fare doesn’t help when your area has no buses (or the bus doesn’t turn up), and the business rates change barely scratches the surface for some Taunton and Wellington businesses grappling with 200% increases.

But I’m positive about our country so I will also be positive about these changes and the new government. We must all want them to succeed.

The next Budget will be make or break on getting the real change Mr Burnham and the Labour Party have talked about. 

Reversing the National Insurance contributions increase implemented by the now departed Rachel Reeves would be a good start. 

More importantly, the new Chancellor needs to set out how he will properly reduce the tax burden on small businesses to allow our local economy to thrive and grow again, while removing loopholes which allow big corporations to pay much lower effective tax rates through profit shifting. 

On social care, Andy Burnham will fail if he doesn’t agree to the kind of cross-party approach the Liberal Democrats have consistently called for – his agreement to meet with Ed Davey on this topic provides a foundation from which to move forward. 

Relying on Council Taxpayers to put two out of every three pounds they pay into care for care for adults and children simply isn’t working and is starving Somerset Council of the funds it needs for roads, transport, planning and our environmental services. Taunton and Wellington residents deserve better. 

I have also written to Yvette Cooper, the third Health Secretary since Labour took power, to raise with her the vital need to bring forward the new maternity and paediatric unit Musgrove Park Hospital desperately needs.

Just recently, part of the unit had to be closed because of rats; this only adds to other issues staff and patients are facing including unbearable heat, leaking roofs, and mould. 

Meanwhile, my commitment to getting our River Tone cleaned up has been long standing, and the new Prime Minister will also have to deal with the failure that is the water industry.  

Just last week news broke of inflation-busting pay rises for Wessex Water executives. This is the same Wessex Water which dumped sewage into local waterways for a staggering 4,160 hours last year across 550 separate spills. 

The government needs to finally put water companies into the hands of the public, mutually run for the benefit of its customers. 

Finally, on immigration it’s encouraging that boat crossings are down 45% so far this year. We need this to continue and co-operation with France and other EU countries needs to be put right to make that happen.  

The sooner the Government gets to grips with it, the sooner we will have an end to protests which purport to be about ‘illegal immigration’ but which last weekend became an excuse to walk through our town, shouting abuse at passers-by who happen to be of a different colour, along with the odd Nazi salute. 

We should be proud of my parents’ generation which defeated Nazism and remember that Taunton has been made stronger by those who have built their businesses, lives and futures here, whether they originated in Somerset or from further afield. 

Our new Prime Minister certainly has a challenge on his hands and I’ll be holding him and his new team to the promises he has made to really get the cost of living down, to fix care and to clean up our rivers and environment – I’m confident you would expect nothing less.