Red Tape and Parking

As I continue to leaflet and canvas the voters of Reading West and Mid Berkshire, I also pop into any businesses I pass on the way. In my leaflet, it says “I’ll be there for the public and local business in the constituency”. To do that I first wanted to listen to the problems that are holding them back, finding out if there is anything a local MP can do about it.

I’ve now done this from Newbury to Tilehurst and a lot of places in between. If it’s a service business in a high street, especially in places like Tilehurst, then their number one concern was parking charges, FYI I hear the same in Newbury High Street. They express how it directly impacts the footfall and so viability of their business.

But the other thing that comes up regularly is Red Tape. All sorts of red tape, from simple things like how hard it is to take in an intern or apprentice, to the regulations associated with now being out of the EU.

Being a local councillor, I know the root cause of parking charges. It’s because mandated services are not funded sustainably. That leads to ever more inventive ways of trying to raise money from what they do control. Hence parking charges go up and up and up. That is something that can be fixed by Westminster by sorting social care funding once and for all.

The reduction of bureaucracy was touted as a Brexit benefit. However, years later, the anticipated easing of regulations has yet to materialise, with much of the bureaucracy being self-imposed.

As much of parliament is made up of MPs who have only had political careers, then it’s not surprising that the laws we get often hinder, rather than help small businesses thrive. As a local businessman, I’ll aim to bring common sense and business sense to parliament.