2025: Week 43 - Headlight glare and pre-budget speech
Last week saw the horrific attack on a train in Cambridgeshire, which resulted in several people sustaining serious injuries. A British man has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of attempted murder. Whilst the motives for the attack are currently unknown, the investigating Police Force have stated that they do not believe it to be a terrorist attack. As an MP it is important not to comment on ongoing investigations, but I wanted to express my sincere thanks to the emergency services who dealt with the incident, and also express that my thoughts are with all those affected by this truly horrific event.
In Parliament I spoke in a debate about Headlight glare; it has become apparent over the last few years that the use of LED lights rather than the traditional halogen headlights plus the increase in car size is having a detrimental effect on drivers who are reporting many more incidents of headlight glare and being dazzled for up to 30 seconds after a car has passed. The current guidance covering headlight brightness and positioning needs updating to bring it in line with modern technology and standards, and that is what was asked in the debate. The Minister agreed that headlight glare is a problem, and to that end the Department for Transport had commissioned an independent report into the issue, the results of which are due to be published soon. Those findings can then be used to generate proposals for amendments to the international vehicle lighting regulations at the United Nations.
It was an unusual move for the Chancellor to make a pre-budget speech on the morning of the 4th November. After the speech, when taking questions from the press, she refused to rule out tax rises as she says she will make the "necessary choices" in her upcoming Budget. This will feel like a betrayal to those voters who trusted the pledge in Labour’s manifesto last year: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.”
The Chancellor said "the world has thrown even more challenges our way" in the last 12 months and her Budget will be one of growth and fairness.
Unfortunately this speech has done nothing to bolster the spirits of the country, it felt like the Chancellor was asking the British public to brace themselves. It’s clear that this Budget will be a bitter pill to swallow for the average person, as the Government seems to have run out of excuses. The Government can’t keep punishing households, high streets and hospices while big banks, gambling companies, social media giants and the wealthiest in society don't pay their fair share. If Rachel Reeves really wants to unleash growth for British businesses, she needs to get a better deal with the EU. It’s the elephant in the room she refuses to face.