The Daily Echo 22 March 2007

Written by Sandra Gidley MP on Thu 22nd Mar 2007

The deadline for this column is before the Chancellor stands up to deliver his budget speech but I am acutely aware that the Chancellor is not the only person after our pennies.

This week there have been a number of announcements highlighting ways in which various organisations, in the public and private sectors, are raiding our purses.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Southampton University Hospitals Trust heads the league of shame with regard to car parking charges. The Trust makes a whopping £2.4 million annual profit. The charges hit the sick and the vulnerable at a time when they are often already under considerable financial pressure.

The next item worthy of note was a letter from South West Trains informing me of a "new pricing structure". The news was not good. SWT have decided to introduce a new off peak pricing band for those passengers who wish to travel to London on trains which arrive in the capital between 10 in the morning and midday.

This is a cynical move designed to fleece those who delay their journeys to London in order to save some money and I can't help but feel that the net effect will be to reduce the number of passengers using the train. Journeys at rush hour are crowded, uncomfortable and expensive.

The next piece of news I noticed was that mortgage interest rates were due to rise in the near future. I know a number of young people who are taking their first step on the property ladder. Housing is already beyond the reach of many young couples and any rise in rate may cool down the housing market but will also have the effect of causing real financial misery for many young people who have stretched themselves to the limit. In many cases those same young people are also trying to pay off student loans.

At the other end of the age range I am acutely aware of the problems faced by all of those people who invested wisely for their retirement only to now find that there are problems with their pension.

Excuse my cynicism but, given the myriad raids on the average citizen's purse, I can't help feeling that anything the Chancellor will have to say will not make people think that "things have got better".

Published with kind permission of the Daily Echo