MP columns

Many local people are facing difficult economic times, and it is important for all of us in government, whether at the national or local level, to do all we can to keep the cost of government down, and therefore taxes too.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council has announced another remarkable council tax cut, down by another 3.75 per cent this year, meaning that my Fulham constituents have all saved more than £1,000 since Stephen Greenhalgh and his colleagues won the 2006 council election.

Despite its focus on reducing the deficit, the Government is not adverse to spending money on new projects.

However, the economic situation requires it to priorities projects that can be relied upon to bring a return. One of these is Crossrail, which will strengthen London's underground and overground rail connections.

The news that Thames Water has chosen Carnwath Road on the south Fulham riverside as its new preferred site for the drill shaft of its Super Sewer will bring years of misery to my constituents across both Fulham and Chelsea.

Buried in the small print of the documentation is the fact that some 29,000 lorries will travel along the Kings Road, the New Kings Road and Wandsworth Bridge Road to go to and from the site, transporting construction equipment to and from the tunnel site.