Week In Westminster: w/c 18th May
- May 22
- 2 min read
The week began with a very welcome announcement from the Home Secretary: a £30 million nationwide crackdown on organised crime gangs exploiting Britain's high streets.
The money will go to fund a new High Street Organised Crime Unit, which will now coordinate action across Government, regulators, security services and local police, and build on existing work that has already seen nearly 1,000 arrests and over £13 million in criminal assets seized.
I know that residents across our area are frustrated by shops that operate as fronts for money laundering, sell illegal goods, and undercut the small, family run businesses that are the backbone of our community's high streets. These honest businesses deserve a level playing field, and our communities deserve to feel safe.
Relevantly, I was also delighted to see the Government detail its Small Business Protections Bill on Tuesday. The legislation represents the biggest crackdown on late payments in a generation.
I hear all too often about the challenges local SME’s have, spending hours chasing invoices instead of running their businesses, and a late payment can mean the difference between keeping the lights on or not – something this legislation will put an end to. Thursday saw the Chancellor give an economic update to the Chamber, where she announced that every child aged 5 to 15 in England will be able to travel free on local buses throughout August - no registration, no cost to families. Alongside this, the Government is cutting food tariffs on over 100 everyday products, including biscuits, dried fruit, nuts – and best of all – chocolate. She detailed that the move would save consumers more than £150 million a year. Elsewhere, I was proud to see the Steel Industry Bill enter its second reading in the Commons. The legislation will see British Steel brought into public ownership in the national interest, backed by £2.5 billion to rebuild the sector and a target to meet 50% of domestic steel demand with British-made steel.
The rest of the week was taken up with the continuation of the ‘Loyal Address’ debate (Parliament's formal response to last week’s King's Speech) with MPs from across the house debating economic growth, health, housing, and defence. Finally, I wanted to note some positive stats that have emerged from the past week. Economic growth for this year has been upgraded; growth in the first quarter of this year was higher than expected; inflation is down nearly 3% over the year; NHS waitlists are at a three and a half year low; and net migration has dropped by 82%. The Commons is now in recess, which means that I'll be out and about in the constituency next week, and so there won't be a newsletter. As always, if there is anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to get in touch. |
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