AS an MP, I have lost count of the number of emails from constituents being ripped off by private parking providers taking advantage of people's honest mistakes.

In Newquay, several constituents have reported entering car parks during the peak holiday season, discovering no spaces were available, leaving without parking, but still being subsequently stung with a fine. Others have fallen victim to small slipups: Faulty machines, incorrect number-plate registration or circumstances beyond their control.

Yes, politics is about the major policy debates and big ideas – as we’ve seen our Prime Minister Andy Burnham tackle in recent weeks, but it is also about fixing the everyday frustrations that gradually chip away at our patience. I am glad to see our Labour government is tackling these unnecessary, extra stressors, alongside pioneering the important, big policy conversations.

Just last week, the Prime Minister announced new measures to restore the present imbalance between drivers and private parking companies. Under the new Private Parking Code of Practice, drivers will be guaranteed 5 minutes to decide whether to park, alongside a 10-minute grace period to leave once their session ends without facing a penalty.

The Code also freezes the maximum parking charge at £100 and brings in a fully independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board, requiring private companies to cooperate more with government and protecting drivers stronger than before. As for the honest, human mistakes, like forgetting a parking permit, entering the wrong vehicle's registration or forgetting to confirm it in the machine when parking, drivers will face a maximum charge of £20 on appeal. It is the simple interventions like these that make the difference.

Our Labour government is also cracking down on the everyday nuisances that blights public transport users, with guidance issued for Cornwall Council to introduce and enforce local rules against anti-social behaviour on buses. Under powers we granted in the 2025 Bus Services Act, passengers who play music or videos at full volume in public spaces, alongside littering, vaping and threatening behaviour, can now face fines of £100 (or £1,000, if they do it on a train). Antisocial behaviour has no place in our towns: The same goes for travelling between our towns.

Since taking office, we have acted to curb unfair airline charges, tackle subscription traps, clamp down on rogue traders, and reduce the burden of excessive school uniform costs. These might not be the sort of reforms that dominate the headlines, but it speaks to Andy's wider approach of fixing the small things that add up to paint a bigger picture. Good governments can spot the problems everybody grumbles about, then acts to sort them.