It’s perhaps one of the most oft-repeated phrases you’ll hear me say at this time of year – ‘please shop local, where you can’. Our businesses are under a lot of pressure. From farms to factories, charities to high street shops, the tax burden is going up.
We can argue the rights and wrongs of that till the cows come home, and yes, taxes went up when we were in Government (but we did have a pandemic and billions in energy bill support to pay for). Nevertheless, there is one thing we can surely all agree on, we need to use our local pubs and shops, and back our Suffolk farming businesses, or they will stop trading.
Certainly, I’ve been trying to support local ventures in Suffolk and Westminster as best I can. As a Shadow Secretary of State, I’m only able to raise oral questions and debates on my department, Defence. But that hasn’t stopped me getting out and about.
On the one hand, we’ve had two major farming rallies in London, with a river of tractors blowing their horns in a procession against the family farm tax, and many local farmers coming into the House of Commons to meet with me and chat through the profound challenges that this new measure entails. I’ve also held meetings with farmers in the constituency, and frankly it looks like 100% of family farms in the patch are affected – far more than the Government’s statistics imply.
But I’m conscious it’s not just the trading sector that is facing difficult financial impositions. I recently visited Bildeston Health Centre and Community Action Suffolk to hear how the huge increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions is making life harder for GP services and our country’s charitable sector, respectively.
Whilst the impact of NICs on charities could be profound, on a brighter note, this hasn’t stopped people in our locality from trying to do their bit. I recently held my second annual ‘Community Champion’ awards, in Alpheton village hall. The nominees were all brilliant, proving just how many people go above and beyond the call of duty – but often to little public acclaim. I am trying to do something to change that.
I announced John Lane from Sudbury as my 2024 Community Champion for his tireless hard work reinstating a support group to enhance the lives of local people affected by Parkinson's in a supportive and social way. I wholeheartedly back his mantra of "if it only helps one person then it’s all worthwhile.”
Another ‘competition’ I held recently where - truth be told - every entry was very worthy, was my Christmas Card contest for primary school pupils. A cheery, uplifting design from eight-year-old Calvin at St Joseph’s, Sudbury, pipped the prize-winning post this year. It was a real treat for me to present the award at his school last week, with the pupils gathered in the main hall signing Christmas carols in French and Portuguese!
In Parliament, the year has ended on a very positive personal note, but not one that many readers will be familiar with. Back when I was Minister for Defence Procurement from April 2023 to the general election, one of my biggest responsibilities was armed forces housing. Anyone reading this who has visited a typical barracks will know that the homes are often far from the highest quality, and not how we should be treating those who serve our nation.
From the day I got the job, and as someone with a business background in housing, I wanted to do something about this. The problem is that the Ministry of Defence sold off its houses in England and Wales in the 1990s. For me, this created the deep frustration that we could only pursue sticking plaster solutions for homes – like dealing with damp and mould – when we really needed to knock those properties down and rebuild the estate.
So I was delighted this week when the new Government concluded the negotiations to buy back the estate that I started, and made possible, by lots of behind the scenes work in the MOD. At a time when we remember all those who serve, especially abroad, I was proud to have been deeply involved in a project that is necessary if we are to deliver genuine ‘homes fit for heroes’.
As I said, please do take the chance to support our local hostelries and shops where you can this festive season. May I wish all SFP readers a merry Christmas, and all the best for 2025.
Published in the Suffolk Free Press.
