Jacob Rees Mogg Mp writes:

The Council, nominally called Bath and Northeast Somerset Council, really ought to be called just Bath Council because it is run by the Liberal Democrats entirely in the interests of the city and not for the rural areas that I was elected to represent.

We are now seeing this bias in Midsomer Norton with proposals for car parking charges returning, like Dracula from the grave coming to suck the blood out of the local economy. 

These charges are being introduced owing to the £25 million black hole in B&NES's finances caused by continuing wasteful expenditure and financial mismanagement by an incompetent council. 

Yet again, the burden must fall on the rural taxpayer to bail out failing organisations that have been given ample funds and continue to collect revenue locally.

 We know about the ring of steel in Bath, which is entirely unnecessary expenditure just to hit the motorist and to make travel more difficult. Now they want to hit people in North East Somerset with charges that will be bad for the economy. 

These unwise and unfair decisions will just discourage people from shopping in Midsomer Norton and they will harm the High Street, which is already under duress.

 Ultimately, it is part of the Liberal Democrat's anti-car agenda to penalise those who are living in rural areas who are dependent upon their cars. 

They have made it even harder by combining with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) to take away bus services from my constituents, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable and rely on the buses to go shopping and to medical appointments.

 I am concerned that my constituents continue to be overlooked and inconvenienced and will do all I can to mitigate this metropolitan bias.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me: www.jacobreesmogg.com / [email protected]