GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my South West Surrey update No.178 A more ambitious than expected Spring Statement has dominated the week in Westminster but the penny is also dropping that the Ukraine crisis - alas for its poor people - could go on a very long time.  

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

SPRING STATEMENT We seem to be back to two budgets as MPs have been summoned back to Westminster today to vote through tax cuts announced in a Spring Statement. The Chancellor announced some very welcome tax cuts including a significant £3,000 raise in the National Insurance threshold (the equivalent to a £330 tax cut for 30 million workers), a 5p reduction in fuel duty, and a commitment to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%  in 2024. There is some harrumphing in normally supportive papers that he did not scrap the health and care levy, an admittedly unpopular tax which I personally support because how else are we going to fund the rising cost of health and care? Yesterday’s increase in the NI threshold means that 70% of taxpayers (essentially the two thirds on the lowest incomes) will not see their national insurance tax go up after the levy comes in so it felt a pretty comprehensive attempt to soften the blow. Scrapping VAT on home insulation will be welcomed by all who want us to meet our Net Zero pledges but I was disappointed that troop cuts to the army are still going ahead (see my own harrumphing on this in the Daily Telegraph from 10 days ago). The question remains, though, whether what he announced will be enough for the massive cost of living increases coming down the track - and whether growth of between 1-2 % is enough to sustain the growth in both NHS and defence spending we need.

NAZANIN CONTROVERSY Following a press conference on Monday in which Nazanin expressed her frustration that it took so long to get her home, she came under fire from some quarters for a ‘lack of gratitude.’ As I said in this twitter thread she was actually asking a legitimate question. I spoke to her on Tuesday when she kindly called to thank me for my own efforts in trying to get her home both when I was Foreign Secretary and afterwards and she is still in a safe house because of the hordes of media camped outside her London home. You can see my account of how Nazanin’s plight shaped my time as Foreign Secretary and why contact with people like her husband Richard really does have an impact on politicians in this week’s Farnham Herald.

NHS/SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE CAMPAIGN This week saw an unusual sight for those who remember the bitter junior doctors strike. I sat on a platform alongside my old foes the BMA to call on the government to do more to tackle the crisis in the GP workforce. The Select Committee this week focused on a related issue, namely why so many staff are leaving the NHS and care sectors. We heard about workload intensity, barriers facing women professionals and sadly in today’s day and age horrendous examples of everyday racism. I’ll be pushing the government to accept the changes the Lords have made around the publication of regular workforce requirements (where they reinstated an amendment of mine that the government voted down). Given the pressures the very least we can do is make sure we are training enough doctors and nurses for the future.

COVID UPDATE The ONS continues to see a rise in case numbers with 1 in 20 in England having had the virus in the week ending 12th March, up significantly from 1 in 25 in the previous week. Why are we not more worried? Basically because so few people are getting seriously ill. Although hospital admissions are rising, the number of patients on mechanical ventilators, a reasonable indicator of serious illness, remains low at 299 and isn’t really increasing. As of 11am the Covid dashboard shows that we have had a total of 20,515,998 positive cases of COVID-19 with 164,123 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 38,312 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 297 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 1,497 active cases in Waverley. In the last 7 days cases are up 17%, hospitalisations 22% and deaths 18%.

That key number is 0300 200 1008 for anyone with pandemic related difficulties. Also please check out my full list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

SURGERY STORIES Interesting calls yesterday, including a catch up with John Neale, leader of Farnham Town Council, about the plans to transform the town centre. There is a big meeting of the Project Board on Friday, and it really feels like we are getting to the crunch moment. I then spoke to the owner of a business in Shackleford who makes amazing health software to allow the exchange of electronic health records and combine it with online diagnostics for people with long term conditions such as hypertension. His challenge, as for so many small businesses, is getting into the NHS - partly because of the 'No one ever got fired for choosing IBM' caution about contracting with smaller businesses, and partly because people are so busy they struggle to find time to create space for groundbreaking innovations. However, I will introduce him to Dr Claire Fuller who is effectively the boss of NHS Surrey.

I then spoke to a Farnham resident whose 98 year father is in a dementia care home in Hindhead. She had lent him some money to pay for his care home costs whilst she negotiated with SCC to pay his ongoing costs, something I helped her secure last year. She now finds she can't get the loan back as SCC now gets his pension, and indeed he won't have enough money for his own funeral - I am getting in touch with Surrey as it sounds both bureaucratic and unfair. Finally, I spoke to a Bramley resident and politics teacher about what more we can do to support Ukraine with both weapons and by cutting off Russian oil and gas immediately - both of which I sympathise with greatly. The key point he made is that this is an assault not just on our security but on the enlightenment values that have shaped the modern world - immeasurably for the better. This terrible misadventure must fail. 

ENGLISH TOURISM WEEK To mark the start of English Tourism Week and as part of a campaign run by Visit Surrey, local tourism businesses have been promoted to potential visitors. Waverley invited four hotels and visitor businesses, including Farnham’s Bush Hotel, Community Rail Partnership, Winkworth Arboretum and The Packhouse, to join them on a stand at a recent exhibition in Twickenham. Our local tourism sector has also directly benefited from special support from the government’s Additional Restrictions Grant, including; training, promotion and financial assistance. More is planned, including enhancing Waverley’s profile on the Visit Surrey website, a destination marketing video and a consumer marketing brochure. You can also see my video promoting the brilliant local shops and cafes in Milford as part of my SW Surrey Bounceback campaign. Another video about Milford is going up tomorrow. I will be working through the patch drumming up support for businesses in other villages over the coming months. 

WHAT’S ON TOMORROW? I’ve got a lot of local meetings tomorrow including with senior members of Surrey County Council’s Highways Team, to raise concerns about speeding outside Bramley Infant and Nursery School and St Mary’s in Chiddingfold - especially around drop off/pick up times. I’ve also had several people get in touch about speeding in Godalming and Busbridge, specifically Park Road, Quartermile Road and Brighton Road. Later, I will be on the beat with Waverley Borough Commander Inspector Sam Adcock to discuss anti-social behaviour, catalytic converter theft and out-house break-ins which residents are becoming increasingly concerned about. 

AND FINALLY Don’t forget that it's Earth Hour UK this Saturday @ 8:30 pm - when millions of people across the world unite to show that they care about the future or our planet. Join me in supporting WWF and switch off for Earth Hour. 

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