Last week I spent a morning out on the streets of Truro. It was Respect for Shopworkers’ week and I wanted to hear straight from people who work in retail about the problems that they face. The statistics are quite shocking. A recent survey from the retail trade union showed nearly a fifth of shop workers suffered a violent attack last year, while almost half reported they had been threatened, and seven in ten were verbally abused by customers. I was therefore sad to hear the extent of the shoplifting, violence and ASB towards our retail workers in Truro confirmed.

I raised this in the House of Commons too, and I am glad that, as a government, we do have a plan to tackle this. I was lucky to be able to introduce the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to some of our retail workers, street rangers and BID manager so she could also hear firsthand the issues they face during the General Election campaign.

We will reverse the Conservatives’ shoplifters’ charter, which defined shoplifting as a 'low-value' crime and set a £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters; money will be put into prevention and a National Business Crime Centre; there will be a new stand-alone offence for criminals that assault retail workers; and we’ll get 13,000 additional neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the street. We must rebuild that trust that our high streets are safe places to work and shop again.

This week I also met with farmers from Truro and Falmouth who came up to London. Since the budget, nearly a month ago, I have engaged with the farming community - visiting farms, answering calls and replying to emails - to listen and learn about what the changes to inheritance tax mean for them and their families.

I have also represented farmers' views to the government, raising the issue personally with Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and DEFRA and Treasury officials during meetings with my fellow Labour Cornwall MPs. I raised the issue of the Treasury figures again this week at the EFRA Select Committee when we questioned the Secretary of State.

The inheritance tax rules have required reform for decades. Everyone agrees that the tax loophole that has allowed millionaires to benefit from buying up land has to be closed. However, this is a complex financial issue and a complex emotional issue too; a farm is also a home and the ‘inheritance’ for many farmers’ children isn’t sitting in a bank account, it’s folded into the fields, the livestock, the crops, and the years put into managing the land.

This government has put a record amount of £5-billion into the farming budget. We know that farmers have endured many challenges in recent years and that Britain's food security is also our national security. I will always make sure that the voice of Cornwall's rural community is heard loudly at the top levels of government.

Jayne Kirkham

Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth