Off the Fence with Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport

I spoke up and voted against Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ increase to Employers’ National Insurance on the charities and hospices that my constituents need in tough times and spend so much of their energy fundraising for.

Another impact of this NI rise, which some are calling the Jobs Tax, is on the small businesses, like childcare and care-homes, who create lots of jobs, especially young apprentices. The hair and beauty industry told me that, at the current rate of decline, they’ll have no apprenticeships left after 2027. I will continue to do all I can to raise their case in Parliament.

Pubs are also impacted by this – their situation made worse by the Government suggesting they are planning to ban smoking in pub gardens and outside spaces, so they aren’t feeling the love! I’ve been doing my bit to show them how much we value their contribution to our community by holding a Best Gosport Pub competition. Well over a thousand votes were cast and the winner was The Windsor Castle.

The Spring Statement introduced deeper cuts to welfare spending than were announced earlier this month. We do need to address the cost of disability and sickness benefits, which left unchecked will hit £100 Billion per year by the end of this Parliament. However, this announcement came out of the blue for many of those who depend on these payments. It’s reassuring that the Chancellor wants to see more people in work, we all do, but since last July economic growth has stalled and unemployment has grown by one hundred thousand.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill also came before Parliament last week. I tabled an amendment to require cigarette makers to replace plastic filters with bio-degradable ones. Every one of the 6,000 cigarettes butts dropped in Gosport each day contains the equivalent of 2 straws worth of plastic. It takes over a decade to degrade, and many end up in the Solent or Portsmouth Harbour, where they are toxic to marine life.

Sound like an environmental no-brainer, right? While this was backed by cross-party MPs from the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Green and Reform, unfortunately, Labour MPs were told to vote against, so it wasn’t included in the Bill.