MP's Views on Migration Policy

Friday, 5 September 2025 at 21:30

By Martin Webber

The MP for Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin, has said the forced resignation of the deputy Prime Minister for not paying enough tax, was another "hammer blow" to public trust in politicians.

Mike Martin was speaking in a live interview on Friday drivetime on West Kent Radio the same day that Angela Rayner stepped down over her tax affairs.

He said: "This Labour government has had 5 or 6 resignations for various scandals of some sort".

But Mike Martin also added: "Almost all of the politicians that I meet are trying their very best to do the right thing and to advance whichever agenda they came into politics with".

Mike Martin continued: "It seems like Angela Rayner made a mistake here, rather than deliberately avoided tax, but she should have been more careful in her position and unfortunately it creates problems for the rest of us who are doing our very best to do the right thing."

You can listen to the full half-hour interview here:

After 10 minutes, the interview moved onto the issue of immigration. Mike Martin explained why he would not support the UK leaving the European Court of Human Rights.

After 4 minutes, Mike Martin was questioned on whether he would raise taxes to deal with the country's £2.7 trillion of debt and rising welfare costs. He argued that some disability benefits were currently too generous which meant the system discouraged people from getting back into work.

The Tunbridge Wells MP was also asked for his views about a Climate Bill being delayed in parliament, pressed on whether he agreed with plans to build 500 new homes on green fields to the south of Tunbridge Wells and finally spoke about how he was helping residents deal with noise levels from planes flying into Gatwick Airport during the night.