Kemi Badenoch’s spring update

Dear Residents,

Speaking to businesses and communities across North West Essex, the message is clear—this Government does not understand the issues we face.

The list is long…

Axing Winter Fuel Payments without proper means testing will see over 18,000 local pensioners lose support. Nationally, five in six pensioners in poverty will lose hundreds of pounds. This ill-designed policy is made worse by Labour’s election claim that there was “no plan to change” the payments.

Businesses have told me that changes to employment National Insurance could force them to shut down. Local hospices, charities like UCAN, GPs, and pharmacies are deeply concerned. I raised this with the Prime Minister at PMQs, yet the Government remains unclear on which public services will be exempt or compensated.

Labour’s tax hikes on farms and small businesses threaten family livelihoods and could drive up food prices. Farmers in North West Essex have protested at local supermarkets against changes that will force them to split up and sell land. I’ll keep standing up for our farmers and entrepreneurs, who contribute so much to our local economy.

Some of you may have seen my first speech of 2025, stressing the need to rebuild trust and make clear that the Conservative Party is under new leadership. From now on, we will tell the British people the truth—even when difficult.

The truth about past mistakes, the challenges ahead, and the need for an effective opposition.

It would be easy to throw out policy ideas, but as Labour is learning, policies without a plan are just announcements. We will set out a real plan—one that works for communities like ours.

If you have any queries or concerns, please email me at kemi.badenoch.mp@parliament.uk

Prime Minister’s Questions

At a recent PMQs, I challenged the Prime Minister on Labour’s disastrous approach to energy security and economic growth. This Government is offering £18 billion to Mauritius for the Chagos Islands—money that belongs to future generations.

I also pressed him on the devastating impact of Labour’s energy policies. A one-year delay to Rosebank will cost £350 million and 1,000 jobs, yet Labour is borrowing £8 billion for GB Energy—a vanity project that will take 20 years to create 1,000 jobs while 200,000 oil and gas jobs are at risk now.

Shockingly, Labour’s Energy Secretary withdrew legal support in a case against activists trying to block the Rosebank oil and gas field. He and other ministers have taken £400,000 from Lisbet Rausing, whose money backs that case. Is this why they refuse to stand up for British energy security?

Labour promised lower energy bills, yet costs are rising. This Prime Minister isn’t just managing decline—he’s creating it.

Local protest against Labour’s Family Farm Tax

I’ve met and heard from farmers across North West Essex about the devastating impact the Government’s recent tax changes will have on family farms and rural communities.

Last month, local farmers staged a peaceful protest at Tesco and Aldi in Saffron Walden to highlight concerns about the family farm tax, inheritance tax changes, cuts to business property relief, and new taxes on farm vehicles and fertilisers.

These changes risk forcing family farms to split up and sell off land, with no guarantee it will be used to grow food—threatening higher food prices, more imports, and the loss of our countryside.

Sadly, the new Government has failed to match this ambition, and Labour MPs have ignored rural communities by refusing to back our farmers in Parliament. British farmers are the backbone of our countryside, and I’ll continue to stand with them and fight for their future.

Council Tax rises

Despite promising to freeze council tax, the Government has allowed inflation-busting increases, forcing councils to raise rates by up to 9.99%.

I challenged the Prime Minister on why Labour is punishing areas like Essex while diverting money to Labour-run urban councils. They’ve scrapped the Rural Services Delivery Grant and hit councils with their jobs tax, all while telling struggling local authorities to raise council tax to cover the shortfall.

Residents in North West Essex are being made to pay more for less. Just months after hiking taxes by £40 billion in the Autumn Budget, Labour is forcing council tax rises that will cost households an average of £110 extra next year. Rural communities shouldn’t have to pay for Labour’s mismanagement.

Holocaust Memorial Day

January 27th was Holocaust Memorial Day, and I had the pleasure to meet with Holocaust survivor Eve Kugler in Parliament.

Her family lived through Kristallnacht, and spent most of the war hiding from the Nazis in France. Her story – and the story of millions of others – reminds of the importance of remembering the unique evil of the Holocaust.

It is crucial that we learn its lessons and continue to combat antisemitism, ensuring that “never again” truly means never again.

Update on National Grid pylons

Many of you know about National Grid’s proposal for overhead pylons in the south of the constituency.

Last month, East Anglian MPs received a positive response to a joint letter urging NESO to improve transparency in grid planning, ensuring all transmission options—not just pylons—are considered.Concerns stemmed from the Norwich-Tilbury project, where only a single pylon route was initially examined.

Following pressure from MPs and campaigners, NESO studied alternative approaches, finding that a fully underground HVDC option could be cost-effective if delivered by 2034.MPs then pushed for NESO’s future planning to consider all options.

NESO has now confirmed it will evaluate third-party proposals rather than defaulting to pylons—a major step forward, given the underground alternative was first suggested by a local group.Yet Energy Secretary Ed Miliband continues to ignore both the evidence and the impact on local communities.

It’s easy to dismiss concerns when you’re not the one affected, but people in our area deserve better.

National Grid is holding new consultations, with Essex’s scheduled for later this year – I will keep residents up to date.

Despite Government resistance, I will keep working with Conservative colleagues to push for a cost-comparable underground alternative that protects our countryside while delivering vital infrastructure.

UK hospitality drop in

Britain’s hospitality sector is a vital part of our economy, especially here in Essex where it is valued at just over £3.5 billion, and supports over 60,000 jobs. However, the sector’s success is under threat by this Labour government.

Recently, at the UKHospitality reception, businesses shared their concerns about the increases to business rates and national insurance that is threatening the industry at the worst possible time.

We are clear that Labour’s Jobs tax is the opposite of what hospitality businesses need. The Conservative Party I lead supports our hospitality businesses, and wants them to thrive.

Labour backsliding on Brexit

Five years ago, the Conservatives broke the deadlock and delivered the biggest democratic mandate in British history—we got Brexit done. Keir Starmer opposed us every step of the way, and now he is trying to reopen the divisions of the past. When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.To stop Starmer from undoing Brexit, we have set five key tests:

• No backsliding on free movement.
• No new payments to the EU.
• No reduction in our fishing rights.
• No rule-taking or European Court jurisdiction.
• No compromise on NATO for European security.

Since Brexit, Britain has secured over 70 new free trade deals—despite Labour saying it couldn’t be done. As Business Secretary, I ended the supremacy of EU law while Labour obstructed us at every turn. If we were still in the EU, we would be hit by European tariffs imposed by President Trump. All of this is now at risk.That’s why I have also set out five freedoms that must be protected in any future arrangement:

• Control over our borders and staying outside the Single Market.
• Power to decide our own taxes and financial regulations.
• Freedom from a customs union, so we can strike trade deals with partners like the US.
• The right to protect our environment in a way that works for Britain.
• The ability for British businesses to lead in innovation—whether in AI, gene editing, or data.

These principles will ensure we use our independence to deliver for the British people. We got Brexit done—let’s keep it that way.

Exciting new step for Thaxted’s historic windmill

Thaxted’s much-loved John Webb’s Windmill has received a fantastic £1.3 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support its restoration! Built in 1804, the windmill operated for a century before closing to the public in 2018 due to structural damage. Since then, it has been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register.

I was very pleased to visit John Webb’s Windmill and support this restoration project. A huge thank you to the Thaxted Windmill Trust and the wider community for their dedication to preserving this vital piece of local history.

I look forward to seeing the project progress and the windmill restored to its former glory!

School vandalism bill

Over recent months I have been contacted by schools and parents from across the constituency who are shocked by the steps this Government has taken in education.

The Schools Bill is educational vandalism, undoing 25 years of progress that helped English students climb international rankings. Academies like Joyce Frankland in Newport will lose freedoms, including the ability to attract top talent.

So far Conservative pressure has forced the Government to amend the bill to prevent a pay cut for 20,000 teachers, but more must be done.

It is students in North West Essex, and like these young girls from an academy in New Beckenham that I met with alongside Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott, that will suffer the most from Labour’s disastrous bill.

We will continue pointing out the damaging effects of this bill, and force the government to reverse the planned changed.

Rebuilding Trust

In my first speech of the year, I spoke about an uncomfortable truth: Britain is getting poorer. For too long, politicians have papered over our problems with quick fixes, but the reality is clear—our country is failing to compete, and ordinary people are paying the price.

Labour promised change but are making the same mistakes we did—raising taxes, punishing business, and governing without a plan. From education to the economy, they are failing.

The Conservative Party is under new leadership, and we will be honest about the challenges ahead. That means admitting where we got it wrong and setting out real solutions.

We will stand up for working people, demand better from government, and fight for a country where hard work is rewarded. Our country’s best days are ahead—but only if we change course now.