During a robust exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Epping Forest MP Dr Neil Hudson criticised the Labour Government’s recent policy decisions and called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to rethink the direction of his administration.
Dr Hudson highlighted a series of controversial measures introduced since Labour took office last year. These include the scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners, a sharp rise in Employers' National Insurance Contributions – dubbed the “Jobs Tax” – and the introduction of the Family Farm Tax, which will force family-run farms to sell off farmland. He also raised concerns over a newly brokered agreement with the European Union drastically affecting UK fishing waters.
His intervention comes amid growing speculation about a potential government U-turn on the Winter Fuel Payment, following sustained pressure from Conservative MPs.
In PMQs, Dr Hudson said:
“Mr Speaker, I think I am right in saying that the Prime Minister might be a lawyer, trained to review evidence and reach judgment.
"When he looks at the effects of his decisions—cutting the Winter Fuel Payment and making pensioners poorer, damaging businesses with the Jobs Tax, decimating rural communities with the Family Farm Tax and risking our food security by selling off our fishing waters - surely he can review the evidence and see the verdict.
"Will the Prime Minister throw those damaging policies out of his court once and for all, before they do any more harm?"
After the exchange in the Chamber with Sir Keir Starmer, the Member of Parliament for Epping Forest Dr Neil Hudson, said:
“The Labour Government’s policies are hitting working families, pensioners, farming and fishing communities hard.
“By scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment, the Government is leaving older people to face rising energy bills alone. New taxes are putting unnecessary pressure on businesses and forcing family farms to make impossible choices. And with food security paramount, the Labour Government is now recklessly trading away our UK fishing waters.”
“I urge the Prime Minister to listen, urgently rethink and reverse these damaging policies.”
