21st November 2022: A Week in Parliament

Book Nook

Last week it was a great honour to officially open the new, bigger premises for the Book Nook in Stewarton. Research shows that bookshops add value to the high street they are located in due to the footfall created. It is also impressive that our one local independent bookshop is located in Stewarton rather than Kilmarnock. Sarah Frame, who operates it, won “Family Business of the Year” earlier in 2022 and that is a fantastic accolade. At the opening, it became very clear to me that “customers” were not just customers but friends as well - this is always the sign of a good, local business. I always think this is one great aspect of the area we live in - we still have many small independent shops and businesses, they are something to cherish and support.

 Immigration

The Tories continue to bang the drum about immigrants and, in particular, “illegal people”, which concerning the latter, is factually incorrect. It is awful and creates the “them and us” argument. Again, I find Labour wanting in this debate, where they argue they will be tough on immigration. Keir Starmer, not only, has confirmed that the “free movement of people has gone” and also that “we have hired too many people from overseas” for our NHS. It is bonkers. Due to the lack of immigration, in particular the ending of the free movement of people from the EU, we have had crops left rotting in fields for the past few years. It is ruining business for farmers. It lessens our food security even more.

We have shortages in the NHS, adding to waiting times, meaning hard-pressed budgets stretched, even more, paying for agency staff. It also means a shortage in the care sector, causing issues and adding further pressure to the NHS due to bed blocking. It means that hospitality businesses have not been able to open as many as they wanted, particularly hotels in the Highlands. It means they are struggling for staff. Overall, businesses cannot operate as they want to or expand. This then leads to businesses paying fewer taxes. A shortage of workers means less income tax and national insurance being paid, which ultimately means less income to the Government. Immigration also means growing our population, helping with cultural diversity, and contributing to supporting our pensioners. 

Brexit

Ending the free movement of people is the real effect of Brexit. This is also why there are so many budget cuts and tax rises in the recent budget. This is why the UK is predicted to be the worst-performing economy in the whole of Europe in 2023. Yet another self-inflicted wound by Westminster. One denied completely by the Tories and seldom spoken about by Labour. I spoke in a Labour debate about the future of British industry and of two front bench speeches, they never spoke about Brexit once, which is certainly missing the elephant in the room.