Political opinion with Andrew Griffith MP: Tackling national debt must be a government priority

Cutting our national debt must be the Chancellor’s number one Budget priority! With this being the last full week before the Budget, John Healey should be finalising the reductions in government spending needed to put Britain’s finances back on a sustainable footing.

The national debt is now approaching £3 trillion, and we spend more than £100 billion a year simply servicing it. That is taxpayers’ money which cannot go towards better public services or strengthening our defences.

Families across West Sussex understand that borrowing comes with a bill. Calling it ‘investment’ or changing the Treasury’s accounting rules does not make that bill disappear. Every extra pound borrowed today leaves future taxpayers with more to repay. If the Chancellor wants to spend more on defence without raising taxes, he must find savings elsewhere. Reforming our-of-control welfare spending so that those who can work are supported back into employment would be a sensible place to start.

Conservatives have set out plans which would help restore discipline to the public finances. The Government should take them seriously. Britain cannot keep postponing difficult choices while expecting our children and grandchildren to pick up the tab. This Budget must finally begin to bring our national debt under control.

I will be voting against the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill when it returns to Parliament this week. The legislation would rake over some decade's old legacy inquests and open the door to civil claims over events during the Troubles, replacing key provisions of the previous Conservative Government’s Legacy Act. It’s time to move on.

Ministers have proposed further safeguards, including requiring the Attorney General’s consent for serious prosecutions.

Former Defence Chiefs and Special Forces associations warn that former soldiers could face repeated investigations decades after their service.

Those concerns deserve a proper answer, and veterans who have already been investigated should not spend their retirement fearing another knock at the door without compelling new evidence. Victims’ families deserve answers, and nobody should be above the law. But justice requires reliable evidence and fair treatment. We owe a particular duty to those sent into danger on our behalf. I will keep pressing for protections that give those who served honourably the certainty they deserve.