There is increasingly more talk about inequality and high pay packages. This has been highlighted most recently by the failure of BHS and the re-focusing on how much Sir Philip Green took out of the business whilst he owned it. But we have also seen the controversy of the BP chief executive and his £14 million pay packet and, in that annual fest of gawping at the rich, the Times Rich List was published last week.
As an MP, I get many requests for help from Wyre Forest residents. When I was first elected, I chose to spend the greater part of my staff allowance in Kidderminster, reasoning that the money given to MPs is an asset to the Wyre Forest community and that it should be spent on helping the community.
Figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics show that the unemployment rate in Wyre Forest for March 2016 was 739. This represents a rate of 1.6% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.5%.
The last week has seen yet another big row over taxes. The Panama Papers leak has revealed a variety of people from around the world taking advantage of tax free jurisdictions to, possibly, hide money and avoid paying tax. This has included our own prime minister.
The EU referendum is slowly coming closer and on the 24th June, we shall know whether or not this country shall remain and member of the EU, or if it shall go its own way, under a different set of arrangements.
Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show that the unemployment rate in Wyre Forest for February was 1.7% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 2.5%.
This week's Treasury Select Committee meeting with the Governor of the Bank of England has certainly picked up some media attention. Having been a member of the Treasury Committee for 6 years, I am pretty sure this was the first time it has trended on Twitter.
Last Friday Mark Garnier MP spent the morning engaging with the work that Natural England, as well as other partners, are doing to manage and maintain the Wyre Forest area.
