In his regular column for the Hereford Times, North Herefordshire Conservative MP Bill Wiggin says not all parliamentarians bear reponsibility for recent unseemly behaviour

BLAMING the whole of Parliament for the appalling behaviour of Opposition parties and the Speaker is unfair.

But that’s politics at the moment.

We have a Government without a majority, and this is the fundamental problem.

What makes it unusual is that the Opposition does not want a General Election.

I have now voted for a General Election twice to trust the people to choose who negotiates our final departure from the EU but without a two thirds majority, under the Fixed Term Parliament Act we cannot have the election.

Perhaps this is because we have delivered a tax cut for 32 million people.

The Personal Allowance has been increased to £12,500, a year earlier than planned, meaning typical basic rate taxpayers will pay over £1,200 less in tax than in 2010. Fuel duty has been frozen for the longest period in 40 years, while duties on beer, cider, and spirits have again been frozen.

Our Government invested the largest, longest funding settlement in NHS history – providing an additional £33.9 billion cash increase by 2023/24.

I was delighted when, after years of my campaigning, the Health Secretary announced that Hereford Hospital would be receiving £23.6 million of this new funding to build two new wards that will provide 72 beds.

On saving our planet, we are delivering a greener Britain with record amounts of electricity generated by renewables. Low carbon electricity generation is at a record high, accounting for 52 per cent of our electricity. As a result, UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions have fallen by 23 per cent since 2010 and Britain is firmly on track to meet the 2050 target to reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases by 80 per cent.

School standards are rising; every child should receive an excellent education and in Herefordshire 91 per cent of our schools have been rated as good or outstanding since March 2019. I have consistently campaigned for fairer funding for our schools and I welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a further £4.6 billion to increase per pupil funding to the same level across the country – reaching £4,000 in our primary schools and £5,000 in our secondary schools.

Powers in the Agriculture Bill will provide support for farmers to invest to improve productivity. The Bill will also improve the position of farmers in the supply chain, address unfair trading practices while rewarding public benefits.

I hope the General Election comes soon as I look forward to spending more time campaigning in Herefordshire.