Lib Dem candidate Mike Giles has asked Earley and Woodley MP Yuan Yang, now the Chancellor's PPS, to push five local asks before the 28 October Budget.
The Liberal Democrat candidate for Earley and Woodley has written to the constituency’s MP, Yuan Yang, with five things he wants her to press the Chancellor for before the Budget on Wednesday 28 October.
Cllr Mike Giles sent the letter on Friday 16 October and sent it to this site the same morning. His release says Ms Yang was recently appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor, John Healey, and the letter is built around that job: “Now that you have direct access to the Chancellor, I urge you to press him on five areas.”
It ends with a warning. “As the Chancellor’s PPS, you will be closely associated with this Budget,” Mr Giles writes. “Please ensure it delivers for Earley and Woodley. If it fails to do so, residents may conclude that you have prioritised your Treasury role ahead of their interests and the local community.”
You can read the letter in full: Cllr Mike Giles’s letter to Yuan Yang MP, 16 October 2026 (PDF).
The five asks
Energy and water bills. The letter asks for “an Essential Energy Guarantee, giving every household its basic energy needs at a discounted rate, and a single national social tariff for water, so no household is left unable to afford these basic necessities.” Both are party policy. The Liberal Democrats’ own Essential Energy Guarantee page puts the discounted amount at 50 per cent of typical consumption and says it would save the average family £100 a year, and £140 for the least well-off households, paid for by clawing back what it calls windfall profits from the energy network companies. The water tariff comes from the party’s Restoring our Waters motion passed at its autumn 2026 conference, which calls for “a nation-wide single social tariff for water bills to guarantee that vulnerable households are protected from sky-rocketing costs”.
Income tax. Mr Giles wants the personal allowance and the employee National Insurance threshold raised to £15,000, “putting up to £680 a year back in the pockets of basic-rate taxpayers”, and the higher-rate threshold raised to £56,000 “so fewer middle earners are dragged into the 40% band”. His release puts the first part as “giving most workers a £680 tax cut”; the letter’s own wording, “up to £680”, is the more careful of the two, since what any one person gains depends on what they earn. The party’s income tax page says the cost would be met from the growth it expects from closer trade with the EU.
Health and care employers. The letter asks for GP surgeries, NHS dentists, pharmacies, care providers, hospices and charitable healthcare providers to be exempted from the employer National Insurance increase, “or fully compensate them for the additional costs”. The release calls this scrapping “the jobs tax on local health and care”.
The University of Reading. “The University of Reading employs around 4,000 people locally, and many Earley and Woodley businesses rely on its students and staff,” the letter says. It argues that the proposed £925 annual International Student Levy “risks adding to its financial pressures, putting local jobs at risk and undermining its ability to attract international students”, and asks Ms Yang to oppose it. Reversing the levy is in the party’s spring 2026 universities motion.
Data centres. The fifth ask is the most local. The letter wants the Budget to “speed up investment in renewables and grid capacity, so new data centres are not left running on gas for years”, and then turns to Thames Valley Park: “As it stands, the proposed data centre at Thames Valley Park offers very little to Earley and Woodley residents. The developers need to go back to the drawing board, and I urge you to join me in pressing them to do so.”
The Thames Valley Park link
That last point repeats what Mr Giles said on 7 October in a statement from Wokingham Liberal Democrats, which also carried comments from the council leader, Cllr Stephen Conway, the executive member for climate emergency, Cllr Lou Timlin, and Wokingham’s MP, Clive Jones. That statement says only 1.8MW of grid electricity is available to the site at first, so the data halls would initially run on gas-powered fuel cells, with 2037 given as the backstop date for a bigger grid connection.
We covered the application itself, reference 262274, on 13 October. It is a planning decision for Wokingham Borough Council’s Planning Committee, not for the Treasury or the local MP, and public comments close on Thursday 29 October, the day after the Budget.
What the candidate says
Mr Giles said: “Local residents in Earley and Woodley have had enough of tax hikes and spiralling bills. With a seat at the Chancellor’s table, Yuan Yang has every chance to change that. This Budget must bring real action on the cost of living, local jobs and clean energy. Anything less will show she has prioritised her Treasury role above the interests of residents across Earley and Woodley.”
The letter closes by asking Ms Yang for “a written response setting out which of these measures you will support and what representations you have made or intend to make before the Budget”.
Mr Giles was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate on 18 September, and last month challenged Thames Water’s chief executive to a public Q&A in the constituency. He is not a Wokingham borough councillor: he represents the Sonning Common ward on South Oxfordshire District Council, where his release says he is also a cabinet member.
We have not seen any reply from Ms Yang, and none would be expected on the day the letter was sent. We have not approached her office for comment on this letter, and we would publish a response from her on the same terms.
What it means for you
Nothing in the letter changes anything by itself: these are one party’s proposals put to an MP, and the Budget will be set by the Chancellor on 28 October. What residents can do before then is tell their MP what they think, whichever side of these arguments they are on. Ms Yang can be contacted through her UK Parliament page, and any constituent can write to her regardless of how they vote.
If the Thames Valley Park data centre matters to you, the more direct route is the planning application: comments on reference 262274 go to Wokingham Borough Council and close on 29 October. The council has to weigh objections and support on planning grounds, so a comment that names something specific, such as noise, traffic, power supply or the future of the wider site, carries more weight than a general view.
Sources: letter from Cllr Mike Giles to Yuan Yang MP dated 16 October 2026 and the accompanying press release, both sent to this site by Cllr Giles on 16 October 2026; Liberal Democrat policy pages and conference motions linked in his release; Wokingham Liberal Democrats’ statement of 7 October 2026.
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