Highly relevant Parliamentary work relating to life in Thanet has progressed in the House this past couple of weeks via my membership of the Work and Pensions Select committee with Tax credits featuring heavily on the floor of the House and in committee work.
I understand entirely the anxiety that any changes to benefits cause, with particularly the reduction in income level whereby tax credit withdrawal will come into play meaning that low earners will see a reduction in benefits from next April. Increases in tax allowances, the phasing in of the new living wage and the background of a buoyant economy means that for many, additional work will be available to make up the difference.
Stepping back, the whole tax credit system has been one of the worst ways of effecting income re-distribution, with too many work contracts designed to fit around the benefit system and employers using the top up of tax credits as an opportunity to perpetuate minimum wages. Other features of the system has allowed literally asset millionaires to obtain five figure tax credit claims. A mad system that I hope we will look back at and wonder why it had been allowed to continue in its current form for so long, absorbing £40 billion per year of the nation’s finances and in the process keeping more working people close to poverty than any other system yet devised.
I had the opportunity of visiting East Kent Mencap in Cliftonville and was hugely impressed with the work they are doing. They were instrumental in organising one of the best hustings meetings in the run up to the general election, and I pay credit to their “Hear my voice” campaign to enable members to get involved in the political process.
We’ve had probably the liveliest Council meeting that I’ve ever witnessed, courtesy of UKIP Thanet’s refusal to deliver on their manifesto commitment to initiate a CPO on Manston. I had previously been a Councillor on a Kent authority for 8 years prior to being elected as MP, and I’ve never seen anything like it. I was pleased to note Conservative Councillor Bob Bayford’s offer to create a “Coalition of Goodwill” to take the CPO forward.
I have a number of Westminster meetings organised, the first with an interested party to get Ramsgate Port back into commercial operations, the second, with Kent MPs and the Chancellor to find a permanent solution to Operation Stack.
I was pleased to put “Flavours by Kumar” of Ramsgate forward to the annual Tiffin Cup award, a national competition in Parliament to find the best South Indian restaurant in the UK. Anil Kumar and his team won the regional round and then won the national award, with Ainsley Harriot on the final judging panel. A real feather in our local cap, the only problem is: I doubt I’ll ever be able to eat there again as custom increases!