I regret that recent political events have caused such a distraction from the pressing issues of the day but I want to reassure my constituents that I am, as ever, focussed on serving the people, communities and businesses of Banff and Buchan.
At time of writing, Liz Truss has signalled her intention to resign as Prime Minister, once a new party leader has been chosen.
Those opposition parties who are now rubbing their hands with glee because they think they can win a majority in a general election are the same parties who have been decrying the disruption because of the various crises facing people across the UK.
A general election at this time would only prolong that disruption.
Instead, we need stability and unity for the whole country, and to support the new Prime Minister to continue delivering both the recovery from Covid and protection from global turmoil, all while striving for essential economic growth
I want to remind constituents of the support that is being provided by the Government to help people this winter.
The Energy Price Guarantee still means that an average household on dual fuel electric/gas will not pay more than the equivalent of £2,500 per year, until April 2023.
The Chancellor also announced an HM Treasury-led review during that time to consider how to support households and businesses with energy bills after April next year.
But remember this is a per unit cap – the more you use, the more you pay.
Similarly, non-domestic (e.g. businesses, schools, etc.) customers will benefit from the Energy Bills Relief Scheme.
Those not connected to the gas grid will get equivalent support to help with increasing prices, with an additional £100 towards costs for heating oil.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme means that every household will receive at least £400 discount on their domestic electricity bills, starting this month
For a household on means tested benefits, total support rises to £1,200, including the £650 cost of living payment paid between July and November this year.
For those with disability benefits this rises again to £1,350.
For a typical low-income pensioner household, the support is worth £1,500.
And for a typical low-income pensioner household on disability benefits, this rises to £1,650.
The UK Government’s Household support fund means an extra £82 million for Scotland – as part of a £37 billion package of support made available across the whole UK.
Lastly, I want to comment on the recent remarks made by SNP politicians.
The First Minister openly declared recently that she “detests the Tories!”.
A strange tactic considering that nearly a million people in Scotland vote Conservative – including >50% of those in Banff and Buchan at the last election.
She tried to roll back on this by claiming it was our ‘policies’ she ‘detested’ – but that didn’t stop one of her MPs repeating the statement directly to me in Scotland Office Questions in the House of Commons.
This was followed by other SNP party leadership figures claiming that such comments are part of ‘normal political discourse’, with others claiming they want Scotland to be ‘Tory-free!’
There will always be a robust debate between those who hold opposing political views, but language and behaviour should never be based on expressing or indeed inciting, ‘hatred’.
When it does, as Margaret Thatcher famously said, “it means they have not a single political argument left.”