Last week as I was pleased to officially open the new Wildanet headquarters in Westbourne House, Liskeard.

With around 80 employees at the site Wildanet has become a major employer in the town bringing high skilled jobs to the town.  It was also good to be joined by my colleague Scott Mann MP as the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  I was also joined by my colleague Steve Double MP which shows the support for their investment in East Cornwall.

It was good to be able to see the new building which I last saw during the renovations and how sympathetically they have done this and brought back original features of what was originally a family home.  The grade two listed building dates back to 1816 with many historic features such as beautiful old fire places.  To be able to use a historic building for such a high technology use must have had its complications but they have done a fantastic job.

I was also impressed to see their plans for a Wildanet training academy in Liskeard so people can learn all the skills they need to be able to bring internet to our communities here in Cornwall rather than having to train out of county.  I hope this investment in training the local workforce will stand the area in a good place for encouraging further high tech industries.

At the weekend it was good to attend a Conservative event held at a member’s home in Antony.  It was good that we are able to meet properly and not over zoom as we often had to during the pandemic.  It was good to see some new members at the event and people interested in local government.

One of the projects I am currently working on is bathing water quality in Calstock with local Parish Councillor Sophie Westwood.  She approached me trying to get the local river designated as bathing water.  This is a river I know well as my grandparents ran the local bakery in the village.  I have circulated a survey to the village and look forward to the results and opinions from local people.  If anyone from the area would like a copy of the survey please contact my office on 01579 344428 and I would be happy to send one.

From supporting British business to lowering the tax burden for the lowest paid, the Government’s Growth Plan sets out a new approach to build a more prosperous economy.  However, it is clear the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from the overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country and as a result, the government are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate. I am pleased that they have listened to concerns over this.

This will allow a focus on delivering the major parts of the growth package. The Energy Price Guarantee will support households and businesses with their energy bills.  Cutting taxes will put money back in the pockets of 30 million hardworking people and grow our economy.  The government also plans to drive supply side reforms including accelerating major infrastructure projects to get Britain moving.

I want to ensure that our part of Cornwall gets its fair share of investment and will continue to press for improvements to the A38 to get South East Cornwall moving.