I voted against the motion of no confidence in the Government which took place in Parliament last week.
A vote of no confidence would not just be a vote for Theresa May to step down; rather it would cause the fall of the whole Government; not what our country needs with just a matter of weeks until we leave the European Union.
I voted in favour of the Government because I will not risk the progress which has taken place since 2010. Locally, the investment in our NHS has seen services return to Crawley Hospital. Only this month the new NHS Long-Term Plan was published, which will see an extra £394 million a week for our health service.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s policies would most hurt those they claim to help; seeing increased taxes, driving wages down and reducing jobs and investment in our country.
Compared with 2010, a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay £1,205 less tax as a result of increases to the tax-free Personal Allowance threshold. Full and permanent work counts for three quarters of employment, and the number of taxpayers taken out of income tax since 2015-16 alone is 1.74 million.
Fuel duty is being frozen for the ninth year, saving the average car driver a cumulative £1,000 since 2010. The National Living Wage will be increasing from £7.83 to £8.21 an hour, benefiting around 2.4 million workers and delivering a £690 annual pay rise to a full-time employee, taking the total annual pay rise since its introduction to £2,750.
The people of Crawley and our whole nation have spoken clearly in recent years, telling the politicians what needs to be done. The referendum result saw Crawley vote to leave, and the last general election saw 589 out of 650 MPs elected on a platform of ensuring Brexit takes effect.
I voted in favour of the Government’s balanced approach to the economy while getting debt down, rather than Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto which would cost some £3,500 per household per year.
Henry Smith MP