Lib Dem candidate urges Earley and Woodley MP to deliver for local residents in Budget

Cllr Mike Giles, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Earley and Woodley, has written to local MP Yuan Yang with five priorities for residents ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget on 28 October.

Yuan Yang was recently appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor, John Healey. In his letter, Cllr Giles urges her to use that role to press the Chancellor to:

• Make energy and water bills affordable - with an Essential Energy Guarantee giving every household its basic energy needs at a discounted rate, and a single national social tariff for water, so households in Earley and Woodley who struggle to pay get cheaper water bills.
• Let working people keep more of what they earn - by raising the personal allowance and National Insurance threshold to £15,000, giving most workers a £680 tax cut, and raising the higher-rate threshold to £56,000.
• Scrap the jobs tax on local health and care - exempting GP surgeries, NHS dentists, pharmacies, care providers and hospices from the employer National Insurance rise.
• Back our universities - by opposing the £925 International Student Levy, which puts pressure on the University of Reading, a major local employer with around 4,000 staff.
• Make data centres deliver for local communities - with faster investment in renewables and grid capacity. Additionally, as the local MP, recognise and agree that the proposed data centre at Thames Valley Park offers very little benefit to Earley and Woodley residents, and that the developers should go back to the drawing board.

Cllr Mike Giles said:

“Local residents in Earley and Woodley have had enough of tax hikes and spiralling bills. With a seat at the Chancellor’s table, Yuan Yang has every chance to change that. This Budget must bring real action on the cost of living, local jobs and clean energy. Anything less will show she has prioritised her Treasury role above the interests of residents across Earley and Woodley.”