Keep the single person's 25% Council Tax discount - a basic principle of fairness

It was 1993 when council tax became the method of how households pay towards local government services and policing. A case can be made for updating how local government is financed, including updating from the 1991 banding valuations, but I am concerned that the Labour government are going to make a dog’s breakfast of it and introduce much unfairness into the system.

Of concern is that Labour’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raynor, as well as subsequently Keir Starmer, have not ruled out ending the 25% council tax discount for single-adult households, when asked about it in parliament. I don’t rate her as being particularly competent, so it is possible she didn’t answer correctly, but as I write, she hasn’t issued any correction or clarification, which makes me fear that it very much is an option being considered.  

Nationally, there are 8.4 million people who live in single-adult households. About 4 million of these are pensioners, many of whom are widows or widowers. On average across West Sussex, the 25% discount is worth roughly £500 for a Band-D property, compared with properties of two or more adults. Clearly, households with only one adult use less local government services than those with two or more, so it’s basic fairness that these households pay less.

It could be argued the single-adult discount should be more than 25%, but the discount being 25% is long established. What would be an absolute travesty is removing the single-person discount alltogether, meaning that for example, an elderly widowed pensioner on a basic state pension, could be paying the same as a household next door with two or more working people on good salaries.

If Labour are now targeting single people in their budget next month, it risks being a triple whammy for many pensioners, who are still reeling from being told they won’t be receiving their winter fuel allowance. October is when energy costs rise by 10%, just as the days are getting shorter and the cooler weather arrives. All single people have greater challenges running their household and I strongly urge the Labour government not to remove their 25% council tax discount.  

Campaigning to stop Labour taking away Pensioner's Winter Fuel Allowance

Two things in politics that sit badly with the public are hypocrisy and being disingenuous. Unfortunately, many now see this as the ‘new normal’ under the Labour government that will become two months old this week. Cheered on by their enormous number of MPs and councillors, who now wield a huge amount of power over our lives, we are seeing decisions being taken by Labour that they have previously opposed and/or have falsely accused the Conservatives of planning to do.

The internet does not forget. There are many Labour videos and social media posts while they were in opposition, including of Keir Starmer and Angela Raynor, blaming the Conservatives for rising energy prices and implying we Conservatives would take away the winter fuel allowance for pensioners. During the energy price spike, the then Conservative government put in place measures to subsidise household energy bills to lessen the financial pain. Thankfully prices then reduced although they are still high by historical standards.

However, when it was recently announced that energy bills would be rising by 10% from this October, out trots Labour still blaming the Conservatives. As well as not providing the major energy support for all households that the Conservatives did, Labour are now taking away the winter fuel allowance from ten million pensioners, worth up to £300.

We Conservatives strongly oppose this poorly judged measure. I welcome that as a party, we are challenging this decision in parliament. What will help is public pressure. I have signed the Age UK petition and I encourage everyone to do so. 

What is especially galling is that Labour are falsely blaming the Conservatives for leaving a black hole in the public finances, for removing the winter fuel allowance, when it is Labour creating a budget black hole, by instantly caving in to inflation-busting (and probably inflation-creating) pay demands from trade unions. It is no coincidence that trade unions are the biggest financial backers of the Labour party and their MPs.

Remember Things Can Only Get Better? Now, it's Things Can Only Get Worse...

 

We have seen a host of economic data published over the last fortnight that shows where the country was at the end of the previous Conservative Government. It is important to note this data in order to benchmark how the economy performs from this point onwards under the Labour Government. The new government tried to gloss over this data as they don’t want you to hear it.

For both the months of May and June, it was very welcome to see to that inflation had fallen back to the Bank of England target of 2.0%. However, for the month of July, Labour’s first month of office, it crept back up to 2.2% and we are already seeing policy decisions from Labour that risk stoking inflation further. June also marked an entire year of average wage growth rising by more than inflation, helping people to be better off

Economic growth data was also released. For the quarter of April/May/June, we saw growth of 0.6%. This follows the previous quarter of 0.7% growth, meaning that the UK has the highest economic growth of all G7 countries in 2024 so far, even higher than the United States. This nice inheritance for the Labour Government left by the Conservatives is in stark contrast to what we inherited from Labour in 2010, when the UK’s economic growth was the lowest in the G7 and unemployment was at 8%.

Every Labour government there has ever been, has left office with unemployment higher than when it entered office. The unemployment data released last week showed a fall to 4.2% for the end of June, down from 4.4% the previous month. The key economic figures to remember for what Labour inherited are inflation at 2%, two successive quarters of growth at 0.7/0.6% and unemployment at 4.2%.

Labour’s claims of a poor economic inheritance are absolute nonsense. To make such claims as a reason to scrap the winter fuel allowance for pensioners is disingenuous. Thousands will be impacted in Crawley and the real reason is to fund inflation-busting pay rises for trade unions that donated to the Labour party. 

We are now being told that Keir Starmer will be giving a speech this coming Tuesday saying that things can only get worse. For once, Captain Flip Flop is right on the outcome, but he is wrong on the cause. He will continue to cynically blame the previous Conservative Government as cover for his Labour slash and burn policy program, which will be the real reason for things only getting worse.  Like many, I remember Labour last coming to power in 1997 and using the D-Ream song Things Can Only Get Better as their anthem at the time. They let people down then and they are doing the same now. I've seen it all before.     

Truth and accuracy matter - fake news is not free speech (Elon Musk's world)

 

In my weekly column for the Crawley Observer, I've written about social media spreading fake news, especially the sewer that is Elon Musk's Twitter or 'X' as he re-branded it. He is destroying that platform, with extremists given free reign to pump out lies, designed to indoctrinate and radicalise, all in the name of 'free speech'. We are seeing consequences in the real world and it's time to call out the purveyors of disinformation and misinformation. I feel strongly about this. The truth matters, whether or not it happens to support any given cause I may have. My column, which is limited to 350 words, is below.

"Access to information has never been easier, but at the same time knowing what is real and what is not, has become more complicated. I first heard the term “fake news” during the 2016 US presidential election, when it was claimed by the subsequent winner of that election, to describe mainstream TV news channels that he didn’t like. The irony is some of the alternative sources that Donald Trump promotes do exactly that, publish fake information in order to manipulate the electorate.

There has been a trend away from traditional news outlets for the consuming of news, with a move to social media. This has led to a rise in misinformation (accidental wrong information) and disinformation (intentional wrong information) being circulated. Unscrupulous political extremists and countries with hostile intentions to the west, push both, in order to sow discourse.

We’ve recently seen consequences in the real world. After the appalling murderous knife attack in Southport, a wholly incorrect name for the suspect spread rapidly on Twitter, alongside false claims that he had recently come to the UK on a small boat. The ‘source‘ for this was a bogus news website, which may have links to a hostile foreign state. Despite these claims being quickly rebutted by Merseyside Police, rioting broke out in Southport with the police saying many people behind the disgraceful violence had been fired up by social media posts.

Politicians from the respectable mainstream parties, including the Home Secretary, have called out social media platforms for allowing misinformation to spread. I think we need to go further. It is very clear that Twitter (rebranded as X) is out of control, with mis/disinformation being allowed to flourish, as well as personal abuse. The site’s owner is a big part of the problem and he seems to relish in promoting the far-right and misinformation.

I believe it would be good to get a mainstream political consensus to crack down on social media mis/disinformation and force them to better police their platforms, if they wish to freely operate here. In the meantime, I’d encourage financially boycotting social media sites like ‘X’."    

Labour's false narrative on the public finances and the economy - don't fall for it

 

As a seasoned observer over the decades, I’ve become accustomed to seeing political spin and the peddling of false narratives. But, even I, have been taken aback by what I’ve seen since the new Labour government came into office.

Make no mistake, what we are seeing now is a concerted spinning operation to rewrite recent history and create a false narrative about pretty much everything that has been passed to the Labour government from the previous Conservative government.

Labour falsely claims they've inherited the worst set of circumstances since the Second World War. To prove them wrong, you don't have to go back to 1945, you only have to go back to 2010. When the Conservatives took over from Labour in 2010, unemployment was at 8.0%. In the 14 years since, it was nearly halved by the Conservatives to 4.4%. 

Every Labour government there has ever been, has left office with higher unemployment than when they took office and I’ll make a prediction now, that this one will do exactly the same.In 2010, the government budget deficit was at 10.3% of GDP thanks to Labour's reckless borrowing. Labour inherits a much-reduced deficit at 4.4% and it’s forecast to fall to 1.2% in the next few years. In 2010 inflation was at 3.4%. It's now at 2.0%, the Bank of England target. Labour have also inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7 and twelve months of wages growing more than inflation.

Since the Conservatives established the independent Office of Budget Responsibility in 2010, the books have been wide open and what they show is a healthy, growing economy, not the fiction Labour is now peddling that is widely rejected by independent commentators. They now have hundreds of MPs across the country spinning this false narrative and rewriting recent history, in preparation for tax rises that they cynically were not upfront about before people voted. They weren’t straight with you then and they aren’t being straight with you now. Don’t fall for it.

At least half of the claimed budget black hole has been generated by decisions being taken by Rachel Reeves herself. Taxes will be going up but Labour chose not to be straight about their intentions during the election campaign. Britain is not ‘broken’ as Labour claim. It is truth and integrity in politics that is broken.

West Sussex Trading Standards Seize a Huge Amount of Illegal Tobacco

I'm very proud of the good work our Trading Standards team at West Sussex County Council are doing, to combat harmful illegal tobacco and vapes, and to make it very clear to those considering selling them, that it just isn't worth it. We've recently had a huge seizure in Horsham, for which I've reproduced below the press release issued today by WSCC. If you have any information on illegal sales, there is a link at the bottom of the press release below.

Release date: 26 July 2024

Trade in illegal cigarettes and tobacco continues to be disrupted by West Sussex Trading Standards’ successful operations.

Earlier this month, 142,700 cigarettes and 1,461 packets of hand-rolling tobacco were seized in a single raid in Horsham, as part of an ongoing investigation. To put the size of the seizure into perspective, 162,640 cigarettes and 414 packets of hand-rolling tobacco were confiscated by Trading Standards in the whole of 2023 to 2024.

Cllr Duncan Crow, county council Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, said: “Trading Standards seized probably as much tobacco on that one day as we did in the whole of last year, which was a fantastic result by the team.

“It’s been reported that trade in illegal cigarettes and tobacco impacts disadvantaged people in our communities the most, with more than half of all smokers of illicit tobacco coming from the most deprived socio-economic groups. Organised crime gangs prey on and exploit these smokers with often fake, inferior and potentially unsafe products, making huge profit and often exploiting people to work in the shops, or on the streets outside.”

It has also been reported that counterfeit, cheap tobacco contains higher levels of tar and nicotine which could greatly increase the health risk for consumers, so Trading Standards discourages the public from buying what might seem like bargain-priced tobacco.

Our teams will investigate any potential money laundering offences alongside any Trading Standards criminal offences and utilise powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to disrupt these criminals and ensure they do not financially benefit from their wrongdoing.

Cllr Crow added: “Sellers will also be referred to HMRC, who can issue penalties of up to £10,000. Anyone caught who has a licence to sell alcohol can expect Trading Standards to immediately seek a revocation of their licence, which could have a significant impact on their business.

“Keeping people safe from the consequences of using cheap, illicit tobacco and illegal vapes is a top health priority: these illicit products can harm communities and jeopardise the profitability of honest, law-abiding local business.

“With the help of information from residents and legitimate local businesses, we will continue to disrupt the vile and potentially dangerous trade in illicit cigarettes and tobacco in West Sussex, which supports our aims for the health and wellbeing of our communities. I urge anyone who suspects illegal trading activity, please don’t turn a blind eye, but report your suspicion to our Trading Standards team online, or by calling the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on Freephone: 0808 223 1133.”

Advice for anyone needing help to give up smoking is available online

Real Questions v Labour's Time Wasting

 

I have previously written about the lengths that Crawley’s Labour Councillors go to in order to avoid scrutiny. Unfortunately, last week’s Full Council meeting at Crawley Borough Council showed that nothing has changed. 

There are only five of these meetings a year, in February, March, July, October and December, where there is a 30-minute time segment for councillors to ask questions of the council leader and cabinet members, as well as chairs of committees. 

Crawley Borough Council’s membership is 25 Labour and 11 Conservative councillors, meaning there is a large Labour majority. All eight members of the council’s cabinet, all five committee chairs plus the mayor and deputy mayor, are all Labour councillors. Experience shows that Crawley residents can only rely on Conservatives councillors to hold the Labour administration to account. 

Frustratingly, Labour’s modus operandi at councillor question time is to intentionally waste time during the five half-an-hour periods during a whole year that they are required to answer questions. At last week’s Full Council meeting, Conservative councillors asked questions of topics of importance to our town. 

We asked about possible incentives and sanctions to bring back empty shops into use? We asked if the Labour council will stand up to their own government wanting to concrete over the countryside when it comes to potential huge housing development west of Ifield? We asked if the council will look into the viability of making it’s sheltered housing for older residents feel safer by installing video doorbell entry systems? We asked if efforts will now be made to find an appropriate way for Crawley to recognise Gareth Southgate given his achievements as England manager, and we asked if they felt there could be any risk to people and property in Crawley given the Labour’s government’s plan to release prisoners less than halfway through their sentences?

In-between our pertinent questions, we had the most awful display of intentional Labour timewasting, with ‘questions’ asked that had very long prepared answers, obviously being read out word for word, including the reading out a council press release issued that day that we had all already seen.

Don't just take my word for it. You can see it here on Crawley Borough Council's YouTube page. Councillor Question Time starts at 1 hour 8 minutes and 40 seconds in.  

England's Finest Gareth Southgate

 

It has been a welcome boost to the nation to have our England football team get to their second successive European Championship final. Our third major final in English football history, it was the first one abroad and the second one for Gareth Southgate as manager. He also has the achievement of managing England to the World Cup semi-final in 2018, one of only three ever achieved.

I write immediately after watching the final where England gave it their all and provided a thrilling evening of entertainment and drama for the nation. There is no shame in losing to Spain. They were the best team in the tournament who won all their matches, including against other top teams. They are arguably the best national side in the world right now.

Gareth Southgate’s eight years longevity and performance record as England’s manager is the best of modern times. I’m quite sure there will be national recognition in the near future, but I hope we can finally get something locally sorted out to recognise the achievements of Crawley’s most famous son. We do need to seriously look at this, but we also need to get it right and ensure that recognition is fitting and long lasting.

We have a proud history of sporting heroes in Crawley. Back in March this year, I was pleased to attend an event at K2 Crawley to unveil 12 new names and portraits to the sporting wall on the ground floor taking the total to 25, a kind of wall of fame. It is surprising how many top sportsmen and women are either from Crawley or have a strong connection with our town. It is good that they are showcased in this way and we should never shy away from celebrating success, whether that be in sport, business, academia, or any walk of life.    

Alongside Gareth Southgate, others on there include sporting heroes of yesteryear such as the late Alan Minter, Daley Thompson, Sally Gunnell and Sharron Davies. We can look forward to seeing more inspirational sportsmen and women at the Paris Olympics from Friday next week.

We are committed to giving you a voice

The outcome of the general election was disappointing, but democracy prevailed and power transferred seamlessly. Labour has inherited inflation back down to 2%, strong economic growth, low unemployment, and official projections of falling immigration levels and falling hospital waiting lists. 

I am proud of the Conservative campaign we fought in Crawley. Zack Ali was an excellent candidate who worked incredibly hard, but we couldn’t stop the national tide that delivered a very bad set of Conservative results. 

I congratulate Peter Lamb on his election as Crawley’s MP at his second attempt and wish him well in his new role. Ironically, he secured 1,200 more votes on his first attempt in 2019 when trying to make Jeremy Corbyn UK Prime Minister, but Labour’s fall in votes this time was exceeded by the fall in the Conservative vote from our 2019 high. It was also not lost on me that while Reform came a distant third in Crawley, the number of votes they received was over one and a half times the gap between Labour and Conservative. 

This was mirrored in many constituencies across the country and has significantly contributed to Labour’s super-majority of 172 seats. Two thirds of parliamentary seats being won by Labour with only a third of the popular vote has raised some eyebrows. 33.7% vote share doesn’t feel like a huge national mandate for Labour, but I take the view that it was down to us Conservatives performing badly with only 24.3% of the overall vote, and that our focus should be on working to regain support, rather than complaining about parliamentary outcomes when we lost.

The political landscape has dramatically changed. We are at risk of a one-party state in Crawley. In May, Labour gained five council seats from us Conservatives to make the council 25 Labour and 11 Conservative, and now they have the MP who is part of a Labour super-majority. In Crawley, for the 40% of registered electors who didn’t vote, and for those who did vote, the 62% who didn’t vote Labour, us remaining Conservative councillors are committed to giving you a voice. 

A strong performance by our West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in 2023/24

Every year, fire services are legally required to publish an annual report called the Statement of Assurance. If you are interested in finding out about what the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service have been doing over the last year, I strongly recommend clicking on the link below and having a read. The document is intended to be accessible and easy to digest and understand. 

This is the Statement of Assurance for the fiscal year of 2023/24.  

This annual report provides the fire authority with confidence that the fire and rescue service is meeting its strategic objectives. I'm very pleased to say this report clearly evidences the great progress that West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is making to deliver on the commitments set out in the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP), which is the the four-year plan for the fire service. 

The performance indicators are exceptionally strong with out of the 30 recorded measures, 26 were Green, 2 were Amber and 2 were Red. A great team effort, our fire service has performed brilliantly over the last year and I'm really proud to be the County Council's Cabinet Member for Fire & Rescue, and that we've invested in the service and provided the support that has helped our fire service to thrive.     

I've reproduced below some of the highlights of the report.   

• This financial year gave the service its first 12-months working to its new automatic fire alarm policy. The policy change has resulted in a 66% reduction in unwanted fire signals, allowing fire crews to be more effective with their time by undertaking community-based risk reduction activities and essential training. 

• The service has exceeded its target of delivering 5,000 Safe and Well Visits. A total of 5,335 were completed, and an additional 1,333 Home Fire Safety Interventions were carried out in homes where no person was identified as having a listed vulnerability, but a visit has been agreed with multi-agency partners (such as the Fostering & Adoption Service). 

• His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services published their Spotlight report into the values and culture across the sector, which noted widespread discrimination, harassment and bullying. While West Sussex was not mentioned, WSFRS continues to build a culture of psychological safety where every aspect of work aligns with the National Fire Chiefs Council’s Core Code of Ethics. 

• Wellbeing support dogs were introduced to improve the wellbeing of staff and offer support for those living through stressful circumstances. 

• Platinum House, the service’s new training centre and fire station for Horsham, opened in July. The site now provides a central location for all staff to train at which ties into Strategic Priority 5 of the service’s CRMP (making the best use of resources). 

• These achievements took place against the backdrop of a busy year operationally. Incidents of note include a significant fire at The Harvester in Littlehampton on 10 August 2023 where firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to adjoining buildings. In late October firefighters also prevented over 30,000 homes in the Bognor Regis area from losing power when a substation on Shripney Road flooded.