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The Constituency Report -
What have I been doing?
March 2008
So Fidel Castro has retired, his work is finally done now that the UK Government has nationalised a bank.
Aside from Northern Rock the main event in Westminster this month has of course been the budget. Previous years have shown us that the budget flatters and deceives. We hear the 2009 plans before we have any idea how the 2008 measures will play out. We must not forget we are still technically under the stewardship of the previous Chancellor. Gordon did so very well for the country when the world economy was buoyant, yet even his experienced policies are struggling to get us through the global economic downturn. Can Alistair Darling live up to the job? We will not see his plans introduced for another year, I hope it will not be too late by then.
So what has the Chancellor and this budget delivered us. Nick Robinson summed it up in one sentence on his BBC blog “Booze and gas guzzlers pay to cut child and fuel poverty”. A sentence which appeals to me as much as I know it does to most of the people in this room. The budget has been touted as a green budget and it is true it concentrates on taxes which tackle climate change and fuel consumption.
The carbon reduction target will be increased from 60% to 80%, £26 million has been committed to helping people green their homes and the climate change levy will increase with inflation. All new home builds will be carbon neutral by 2016 and all new commercial builds will be carbon neutral by 2019. Reducing road tax for the lowest emission cars and increasing it for higher emission cars is a good practical policy if we are working on the premise the polluter must pay. However the continued expansion of the airports is a cause for concern. We must ask ourselves if we are really serious about climate change and are we ready to make the necessary changes. The continued airport expansion does not bode well for the Labour government. The Green lobby were disappointed saying the new budget did not go far enough or have a coherent vision, they specifically sighted the decision to put off a rise in fuel tax as evidence the government is not committed to tackling climate change.
Speaking of pollution I was pleased to see that cigarette duty will be rising by 11p on a pack of twenty cigarettes and that the 5% reduction on VAT in smoking cessation products will continue. The 14p rise on a bottle of wine may cause consternation at dinner parties round the country however if this rise means that we decide to take one bottle home from the supermarket instead of two then great. We need the money to meet child poverty targets and it is doing its job in terms of protecting public health and reducing the long term economic burden on the NHS.
I also welcome changes to welfare and pensions. Making sure parents are better off in work than on benefits should be a key Labour policy. It is a shame it has taken so long. I welcome the increases in child benefit and child tax credit which will help us reach child poverty targets - another key Labour policy which seems to have been off the financial radar. Pension credit and the winter fuel allowance are up. It is not going to solve the pensions crisis but it helps. The government has identified 70,000 sites for new homes. If my postbag is anything to go on a good number of them had better be in Norwich! So it is a real mixed bag as we look to 2009.
In Westminster I ran a debate on Air Ambulances. We are continually working on copyright and patent issues. I am active on food and health issues and have just written a piece on Food Labelling. I attended a conference on Afro- Caribbean Cancer Awareness and we are campaigning to save Pinebanks form closure. There is also the Human Embryology Bill which looms on the horizon and will be a huge issue once it moves onto the agenda at the end of April. BEAT the excellent eating disorders charity based here in Norwich held their annual reception on the terrace. I also met with the Davenport Trust.
In Norwich I attended an Asperger’s Conference which has led me to produce a cross party report looking at the problem in Norfolk. I have been looking at road safety and chaired and spoke at a carbon reduction meeting. The Energy Bill and Climate Bill will soon be debated.
I remain concerned about the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sometimes it seems absolutely hopeless in the face of continuing violence and deteriorating conditions for civilians. To coincide with the budget I have been working with Bill Mathew of UEA to produce an article looking at the true financial cost of the two wars. I have included that article here for those of you who are interested and it will be published on the CND website in the near future and hopefully in The Guardian.