BURNHAM-on-Sea MP James Heappey has praised Chancellor Philip Hammond after his first Autumn Statement last week.

Mr Hammond, who was appointed to the role in Prime Minister Theresa May’s government after David Cameron’s resignation following the EU Referendum vote, was making his first major speech in the House of Commons.

Within it, he pledged to focus on investing in the country’s infrastructure, plus vowed to pump billions into the UK digital economy.

Following the speech, Mr Heappey said: “The public finances are looking much less positive than they were a year ago and so the statement was appropriately sober and unflashy.

“Growth predictions have fallen and whilst the UK continues to grow more quickly than all over G7 countries and record numbers of people are in work, there is no escaping that the deficit cannot be cleared as quickly as the government had previously hoped.

“I welcome, however, that the new fiscal rules set by the Chancellor will continue to force the country to live within its means with deficit to be cleared early in the next decade. The additional borrowing in the meantime will at least be much cheaper as interest rates are currently so low.

“In particular, I welcome the focus on investing in our nation’s infrastructure.”

Mr Heappey said the Chancellor’s pledges would benefit the south west region, and that residents would also feel the benefits in their own pockets.

He added: “In the South West especially, we have suffered from decades of under investment and our transport and communications networks are showing the strain.

“That poor connectivity discourages investment and limits productivity.

“The billions of pounds committed to our road, rail, broadband and mobile phone networks is really welcome, as is the cash that will make our existing networks better protected from flooding.

“Finally, I very much welcome the raise to the National Living Wage, the increase to the personal tax allowance and the freezing of fuel duty – on which I had been campaigning in recent weeks,” added Mr Heappey.

“These are measures that will put money back in the pockets of Somerset residents and Somerset’s businesses will benefit too with a doubling of rural rate relief, confirmation that previous commitments to reduced corporation tax will remain and an eye-catching measure on rate relief for businesses who install their own fibre optic broadband connection.”