2026: Week 38 - Conference and Water Ownership

The last weekend saw the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference, well attended by MPs, local councillors and many members of the party.

The main topic of conversation arising from conference was the Lib Dem’s proposed tax cut, which could save millions of people £680 per year.  They would raise the tax-free personal allowance from £12,750 to £15,000, taking 2.5 million of the lowest paid workers out of income tax completely. The party have also proposed raising the higher rate tax threshold to £56,000 which would take 760,000 people out of that tax band.

These tax cuts would be funded by growing the economy through membership of the EU single market and a customs union. This is in direct opposition to how Reform would fund tax cuts, by cutting disability benefits for the most vulnerable in our society. 

These measures would put more money into the pockets of ordinary working people, which will in turn give them more power and help to ease the cost-of-living crisis. 

I was really pleased to be able to join in with Ed Davey and other MPs for a beach clean of Brighton beach, along with Surfer’s Against Sewage, Paddle UK and the Marine Conservation Society.  As an MP of a coastal constituency, I am only too aware of how fragile our coastal environments are, and how devastating rubbish can be to our marine life.  I regularly join local beach cleans run by the wonderful Dawlish Against Plastic, they are held on the first Saturday of every month, but please check the times on their Facebook page as they are variable due to the tides.  They work so hard to keep our beaches and town tidy through their beach cleans and litter picks; I also hear they sometimes offer younger litter pickers an incentive in conjunction with the Local Scoop Ice Cream Parlour! This is what community is all about, working together to enhance our localities.

Due to it being conference season, Parliament is in recess so I will be squeezing in a few more pop-up surgeries across the constituency, as usual these will be advertised on my website www.martinwrigley.co.uk and also publicised on my socials.  Please keep an eye out and do come along to chat, I’d love to see as many of you as possible!

Recently I spoke in a debate about Water Companies and Public Ownership, and why it is so crucial.

Southwest Water proudly say that they have invested £13 billion in the system, but they have paid out more than half of that in dividends.  That amount is shocking when it’s clear that the ageing infrastructure is not fit for purpose. 

To address this, water companies must move into public ownership, but more particularly mutual ownership, so the customers own the company.

It’s been clear for years that Ofcom has not had the teeth or the understanding to avoid these water companies turning into financial instruments dealing with complex debt deals.

We should be looking differently at how these fines are levied, perhaps in shares, which would make the process of transferring the company into public mutual ownership easier.

We have to move all the water companies under public mutual ownership to ensure the future of clean water and to stop sewage being discharged in our seas and waterways.