‘Surely this is not what politics is about,' says Jacob Rees-Mogg ​on green border taxes and water rationing

The government seems to be wanting to make people's life difficult, whereas I think we should be trying to make it easy. So we've had announcements today that rationing water will be coming in so that anyone who uses over 55,000 gallons will be charged at £4.00 for every 220 gallons above that, a 166% increase. But we know in this country. There is no shortage of water. There may be leaks, there may be incompetent water companies, but we have plenty of water. But in the name of the green economy, consumers, voters, electors, must be punished because it doesn't fit with what their masters want them to do. Surely this is not what politics is about.

We're seeing the same with cars. Cars, petrol. Cars in this country are supposed to be phased out. Stop being sold from 2030. But even the EU, that famous bastion of freedom and independence and deregulation, isn't going to ban it until 2035. And then has just announced that there will be a scheme said if you have efficient fuel, you'll be able to carry on making and selling petrol cars. For once we should be grateful to the interests of the German car industry. But electric cars are still very expensive and there's no evidence that they will be cheap by 2030.

So why are politicians putting? Penalties on the people that we expect to vote for them. Why are we making people poorer? And it's not just water and cars. We've also had an announcement today that landlords will be penalised if their houses don't meet certain standards. So instead of tenants deciding whether they're going to rent a place and taking into account what standard it is at, this will be set by the government and government and will fine landlords heavily if they don't meet certain standards, whereas actually if you're a tenant. You may find that you're happy to pay a lower rent and have higher energy bills. Surely that should be a choice that you make a market choice.

Otherwise landlords will leave the market, putting up the rate of rent for people who are already squeezed because we're in the middle of a cost of living crisis. And then the silliest idea of all is the green border tax. This will be a tax on imports, making the goods that we buy that aren't made in this country more expensive. Again, why are we doing this in the midst of a cost of living crisis, high water prices, high car prices, high rental prices and high import prices and we import so much of the basics that we use that this will be a fundamental problem for all the voters, all the electorate, all the British people who will find that their standard of living is reduced. Now the Climate Change Committee is very keen on this, it has said. That the heat is on the government to show grit and determination to address the negative impacts that the climate change will continue to have on our daily lives.

I don't think that's right. I think it's for individuals to decide how to lead their own lives. And this comes to the fundamental point, what is politics for? Why do people go into politics? Well, it seems to me that the main reason for being a politician is to take the obstacles. Out of the way of people so they can lead the lives they choose to lead. So to deal with the green issues we need new technology and things that bring down costs for people. Not penal charges on water, on imports, on cars, on renting. We want to be taking the obstacles out of people's way. That is the fundamental challenge. And currently our scramble to net zero before the technology is ready. Wishing the end but before working out the means is simply going to make people's lives more difficult. And that's not why I went into politics. It's not why I asked people to vote for me. I don't want my constituents to be poorer and colder.

But of course. I want to know what you at home think. Please get in touch. As always e-mail me at mailmogg@GBNews.uk