The West Country Debate December: Migration, council budgets and the covid inquiry
Catch up with December's edition of The West Country Debate
When the government unveiled it's latest plan to cut legal - and illegal - migration on Monday 4 December, Rishi Sunak was hoping to avoid the nightmare scenario of ending the week having to shore up his position.
The Prime Minister has had a bruising few days after his immigration minister resigned in protest, his former home secretary said his new plan would fail, and former PM Boris Johnson resurfaced.
His plans to make it harder for skilled workers to be able to get a visa - by raising the minimum salary threshold by a third, stopping care workers from bringing relatives over and doubling the minimum income for family visas - has led to criticism in the West Country.
Food producers and farmers have expressed concerns over their ability to bring seasonal workers into the southwest, which many rely on for their harvests. Cornish MP and former environment minister George Eustice has also weighed in with criticism, calling the policy "upside down".
Somerset Council, meanwhile, has written to the government calling for extra cash after declaring a 'financial emergency', being short of around £100m for it's budget next year.
While Somerset may be the first council in the region to explicitly call for help, Cornwall Council has admitted it has already overspent by £16m and Bristol City Council has been warned of "unprecedented challenges". Local authorities are now looking to the chancellor for more financial support.
This week has also seen the return of Boris Johnson, the former PM taking to the stand to apologise for - and justify - his government's policies during the pandemic. But for many of those in the West Country who lost loved ones to Covid, his appearance has not tempered their anger.
These issues are all discussed in December issue of The West Country Debate. On the panel this month:
Shadow Culture Secretary and Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire
Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Honiton Richard Foord
Conservative MP for West Dorset Chris Loder
Migration policies and the farmers concerned they'll be left short-staffed
Backbench Conservative MP Chris Loder was lukewarm on whether he backed the government's new migration policy, declining to offer support and saying he was yet to read it in full.
Loder, who grew up on his parents farm in Folke, Dorset, said: "The reality is that the government has to take a closer grasp of the immigration difficulties that we're facing, both legally and not so.
"We're going to talk about [the policy] next week, the second reading is coming forward to the House," he added.
But asked if he supported it, Mr Loder replied: "The paper has only come out recently, I have not read the full details of that paper".
Mr Foord was more forthcoming in his criticism and said the government had failed to provide increased incentives for UK workers to go into the care sector.
Watch the MPs discuss the impact of the government's migration policy
"We do need to see action in relation to incentives for people to go into social care work," he said.
"The Liberal Democrats have called for a social care minimum wage... which is £2 higher than the national minimum wage... This has to come from Westminster, from central government coffers," he suggested.
But Thangam Debbonaire, who will be fighting for the newly created Bristol Central seat at the next election, said she wanted to see a "new social deal".
"We would like to see a proper, new deal for working people and that will prioritise social care as a way of making sure people are paid properly, are treated properly and most of all are value properly", she said.
Somerset Council's 'financial emergency' and the pressures facing local authorities
Somerset Council is run by the Liberal Democrats, but Mr Foord said that the crisis being faced by the council is a "national problem".
"It is a problem, which starts in Westminster," he said.
"What we need is a fair funding review... with a reassessment of how funding is allocated, to ensure rural councils are getting the funding they deserve," he added.
Ms Debbonaire meanwhile said the government has been "asleep at the wheel" and is "failing" to get a grip on council funding. She said Labour would devolve more powers and said there would be a cash boost for councils.
Watch the guests discuss local government funding
She said: "Decisions should be made as locally as possible to the people who are affected. We would like to devolve more money, more power, more decision making - as close as possible to local people."
Mr Loder agreed with Ms Debbonaire about greater transparency in council funding. He added he would welcome a review, as suggested by Mr Foord and said his constituency is "the worst for social mobility in the country and that is not taken into account as it should be".
Asked if there would be more money for councils, he said: "I hope so".
'Sick to the stomach': The West Country families rejecting Johnson's Covid apology
Charles Persinger lost his wife to Covid after she caught the virus while working in a care home in Swindon. The 58-year-old's mother also died from Covid around the same time.
He has travelled to London to attend the inquiry and is angry at Boris Johnson.
Charles said the former PM's testimony makes him "sick to the stomach".
"It's disgusting," he said. "This is a man who's still prancing around and acting like he did a good job and made all the big calls right, and all this."
Reacting to the criticism and the conduct of Mr Johnson's government, Mr Loder pointed out that the House of Commons was "packed" during a debate on the coronavirus bill - which gave the government additional powers - just days before Parliament rose.
Mr Loder, who was elected in 2019 in a landslide victory that some have attributed to Mr Johnson, said: "It's very easy for us now to sit here in hindsight, to criticise here today, the purpose of the inquiry is really to drill into that detail.
"I appreciate there are lots of criticisms of Boris Johnson and I think lots of those criticisms are very just," he added.
Foord said Mr Johnson's conduct during the pandemic was "disgraceful", "flippant" and showed a "lack of moral courage".
Mr Foord added his time serving in the British Army taught him about "telling people things they didn't want to hear" and how "to lead by example - to show that you can experience the same deprivations that they do".
Ms Debbonaire said Boris Johnson lied about rule-breaking and pointed out the current PM - Rishi Sunak - "was at one of the parties and received a fixed penalty notice."
Rishi Sunak is due to testify before the Covid inquiry on Monday 11 December.
If you missed November's edition of the West Country Debate you can catch up here.