South Lakes MP Tim Farron has signed a cross-party letter to the Chancellor, urging him to suspend VAT on electricity bills for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
In the letter, the MPs say: "Given that most of us are spending a lot more time at home self-isolating, there is no doubt that our energy bills will dramatically increase. For many people in the UK, some of whom are hard hit by fuel poverty, a VAT moratorium on energy bills would be a huge help in the weeks and months ahead."
Speaking ahead of what would normally be a busy weekend for the Lake District, local MP Tim Farron has issued the following plea:
"The scenes that we saw last weekend of a packed out Bowness bay and a heaving Devil's bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale pose a huge health risk and we simply cannot afford to see that repeated again this weekend.
Commenting on the announcement from the Chancellor this afternoon that self-employed people won't be able to access financial support to cope with the impact of coronavirus until June, Tim said: "The measures that the Chancellor is introducing are really welcome but the brutal reality is that so many of the nearly 11,000 self-employed people in Westmorland and Lonsdale just simply can't afford to wait until June to get a proper wage.
South Lakes MP Tim Farron is urging the Foreign Office to immediately intervene to get two emergency services workers from Kendal returned home after being stranded in Dubai airport.
Rosie Addison, who is a nurse, and Jenny Rose, who is a police officer, have been trying for almost two weeks to fly back from the Philippines.
Commenting on reports that financial support to cope with the impact of coronavirus won't be available for people who are self-employed until the end of May, local MP Tim Farron said:
"It's great that the Chancellor is set to announce far reaching measures to support the self-employed at this very tough time.
