WITH Christmas just around the corner, this weekend marks Small Business Saturday, which is a great moment to support the brilliant, family-run small businesses that help make our towns and villages so special here in North Cornwall. It could be a gift shop in Bude, a cafe in Wadebridge, or one of our fantastic local butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers (like down in St Eval!). I’d really encourage everyone to shop local and think local. With rising costs still hitting hard, our high streets really do need our support now more than ever.

On the Westminster front, I reaffirmed my opposition this week to the government’s plans for a mandatory Digital ID system. It’s a policy that almost nobody wants, and one which would cost taxpayers billions of pounds… completely dwarfing any claimed savings from things like the damaging Family Farm Tax. The government should be prioritising frontline services and rural infrastructure in our communities, not wasting time and quite literally billions of pounds on a scheme that undermines both privacy and trust. I’ve had an overwhelming response from my constituents here in North Cornwall, who have all made their thoughts quite clear. Thanks for this - I promise to keep pushing on the issue, and will fight the Digital ID plans until they’re dropped for good.

Another deeply worrying issue these last few weeks has been the prison overcrowding crisis, which is spiralling out of control. In the last three weeks alone, we’ve heard that 12 prisoners have been wrongfully released (two of whom are still at large). I recently challenged Ministers in the Commons, as well as Conservative MPs over their abysmal prison-building record, which has directly led to this national crisis. The public expects safety and competence from those in charge of our justice system, not chaos and more cover-ups. The government urgently needs to get a grip of this crisis, and put a stop to dangerous criminals being let out onto our streets ‘in error’.

On a different note, I celebrated UK Parliament Week with North Cornwall’s schools and colleges. I was pleased to meet with Daniel recently, who is a student from Callywith College, to hear his views and answer some of his questions. Young people across North Cornwall deserve to know that their voices really do matter, and I’m working hard for their futures on a number of fronts - which of course involves tackling the housing crisis we face in Cornwall, improving transport links, investing in better jobs, and boosting our local economy.

I also stood up in Parliament recently to speak up for our proud fishing community here in North Cornwall. I pressed Ministers to ensure that local fishermen are properly consulted on how the new ‘Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund’ will be spent. I’m pleased to say I’ve now secured a meeting with the DEFRA Minister responsible, and I’ll be holding a fishermen’s roundtable here in North Cornwall soon to ensure their views are heard directly. In the meantime, there’s an active consultation underway, so if you’re involved in the industry and want to make your voice count, you can find the link on my Facebook page.

And finally, I’ll be hosting my next ‘Brew with Ben’ event on Wednesday, December 18, from 5pm to 6pm at the Goods Shed in Wadebridge. These informal events are a really great chance to raise local issues, have a cuppa, and just have a chat, so I’d love to see you there.