Last week in the Commons (see here) I did what I could on behalf of the Opposition to challenge the Government on the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Payment from 10 million pensioners. They say they are going to ensure the poorest pensioners still get the Payment though the Pension Credit system - but fully a third of the pensioners entitled to Pension Credit don’t currently claim it, put off by the complexity of the paperwork and, perhaps, the old-fashioned pride which baulks at a means-tested benefit.
As you’ll see in our exchange, the minister confirmed to me that they want all eligible pensioners to sign up for the benefits they are entitled to. That’s 880,000 pensioners who need to swallow their pride and fill in the form by 21 December to get the WFP. But she also denied that the cost of this additional take-up of Pension Credit (well over £2bn) would completely wipe out the savings (£1.4bn) that the Government is making by cutting WFP from 10 million people in the first place. Like so many of their policies - think of the NICs rise and VAT on school fees - it doesn’t add up.
Of all Labour’s vindictive, wrong-headed policies the most outrageous remains the introduction of inheritance tax on family farms. I had a visit this week from a farming couple still profoundly shocked by what it means for them and their family. The point to remember is that farming makes very little money. The return on any investment needs to be measured in decades. The deal the country has struck with farmers is that in exchange for their hard work in all weathers to produce the food we eat (the subsidies they get simply compensate for the artificially low prices we demand in the supermarkets), they get to keep the land and pass it on to their children tax-free. Without this sense that they are working for the future of their family - what’s the point?
Tomorrow a lot of farmers will descend on Westminster to protest against this new tax. I’ll be there and would be delighted to meet any farming constituent who’s coming up for the day. Please email me on [email protected] and put ‘Coming To The Farmers Protest!’ in the subject line.
Last Sunday night the text of the Assisted Suicide Bill was published. For a long time this debate has been held in the abstract, between the rival extremes of ‘patient choice’ versus ‘protect the vulnerable’. Who doesn’t agree with both of these principles? Now we have the chance to see how the proposed law might work in practice. And I’m afraid it’s as bad, or worse, than I feared. I did a twitter thread explaining how the Bill would actually operate, did a fair bit of media (including this piece for the Spectator), and hosted a meeting for MPs to hear from disabled people and an activist concerned about the impact of the Bill for people with eating disorders (see this).
Officially unrelated - but actually very related - to the Assisted Suicide Bill was a meeting of English children’s hospices. The boss of Julia’s House in Devizes was there, and he and I spoke about the devastating impact of the NICs rise on the service he provides to the families of terminally ill children.
On Friday I visited Jim Robbins, the (Labour) leader of Swindon Borough Council, whose boundaries include the communities of Wroughton, Wanborough and thereabouts in our constituency. It was a pleasant and constructive chat about flooding and traffic in the villages. We also discussed the impending process the Government is imposing on councils to decide whether to combine with the neighbours in larger ‘mayoralties’, in exchange for some devolution of power from Whitehall. But which mayoralty?
Swindon is liminal. Is it properly part of the ‘Heart of Wessex’ with Wiltshire and Somerset, or really an outpost of the Thames Valley, with Oxfordshire and Berkshire? It is an ancient town, of course, much modernised and - let’s face it - uglified in the 20th century, but it retains some pre-industrial and even industrial charm, and it is perfectly situated (like Wiltshire in general) to participate in the high-tech economy that stretches from London through Reading to Bristol. I look forward to seeing exactly what the Government offers, and what Swindon and Wiltshire - currently independent unitary authorities - each decide to do.
Are you a primary schoolchild? Please enter my Christmas Card Competition, to design the card I send to the Lord Lieutenant and the other swells of Wiltshire. I used to get a photo of the winning design with the Prime Minister, but owing to the decision of the voters I don’t have the same access I used to, so we will (gratefully) make do with the Speaker of the House of Commons this year. Details on how your school can enter here.
This Friday from 5-6pm I’ll be in The Marlborough pub in Marlborough, down the end of the high street towards the College on the right. Do drop in!
