I recently challenged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to review his government’s fiscal rules.

Which rule out any rise of income tax, employee national insurance or VAT (taxes which by the way account for almost 2/3 of government income). In the light of the “changed world” of looming trade wars, and the PM’s commitment to raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP (a policy my party and I support). Of course, I appreciate that Labour appears to face perpetual pressure from its detractors in our predominantly anti-Labour/right wing media, and which drive the requirement to have an ‘iron’ chancellor and ‘resolute’ fiscal orthodoxy to assure markets and provide a solid foundation for governance.

Though the PM didn’t accept my proposal, he’ll have to revisit this issue soon. When he became PM, Starmer correctly asserted that “those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden”, but most of his decisions since have achieved the opposite – not just here in the UK, but also amongst the poorest on the planet.

Contrary to popular belief, and Tory mantra, the UK is not especially overtaxed when contrasted with comparable developed countries. Since 1990 income tax and national insurance paid by those on UK average earnings (£12,000 then; £39,000 now) has fallen from 28 per cent of salary to 19 per cent. Quite a reduction. However, in Australia it’s 25 per cent, 24 per cent in the US and 40 per cent Belgium.

In politics, you have to use a crisis; not let yourself become a victim of it. Starmer now has the political space to review his fiscal rules, defend industry from the trade war, increase defence spending and restore our public services. The trade barriers Trump is imposing on us make those we imposed on ourselves – like Brexit – increasingly damaging and costly. Now is the time to review all of this and change course.

Then there’s the need to close tax loopholes. Last week in the Commons, Treasury ministers agreed to meet me to explore how we could spend less taxpayers’ money effectively fuelling the dramatic shift of local homes into property investment – especially for holiday and second homes. My interest is, of course, not fuelled by the politics of envy, but the politics of social justice.

It can’t be right that, in Cornwall alone during the last decade (under the Conservatives of course), over £500 million of taxpayers’ money has been handed to holiday home owners, when we desperately need that money to deliver first homes for locals.

Farmers rightly want the Groceries Code Adjudicator - the regulator which was created to stop supermarket buyers from misusing their market dominance to bully their suppliers (with late payments, short notice contract changes, promotions paid for by suppliers etc) - to be given more powers. I chaired the Grocery Market Group which successfully campaigned to create the regulator (the GCA) over a decade ago. We made clear then that it was only a small first step and would need to be strengthened. Now’s the time.