It’s now been over 100 days since the election, and we are all starting to form our opinions on the new Labour Government, and what they have had to say on the issues of the day.
My inbox has been dominated by concerned pensioners over the unfair scrapping of the Winter Fuel Payment for most of that time. This is a bad start for a Government to make for a number of reasons, not least because energy bills are set to rise again this winter.
I’m hoping that Rachel Reeves’ first Budget does not continue down this path at a time when people are struggling. Pensioners in areas like North Shropshire often live in homes which are expensive to heat, and
During the campaign, my top campaign pledge was to fight for our NHS. Across North Shropshire, I have heard far too many harrowing and unacceptable experiences – one case lately was that of a two hour ambulance wait for an 11 year-old girl, Charlotte, whose call was a category one emergency.
Cases like Charlotte’s have to be consigned to history, and the Government has to make fixing our health and care crisis its top priority. My view on that gets firmer day by day, with the number of appalling experiences in our county a reminder of the human consequence of inaction.
So far as solutions go, the case I am making strongly to Ministers is that we can invest to save. Carers, NHS dentists, GPs, mental health workers, and many more people across the health sector play a vital role in keeping people out of A&E in the first place. Cuts to these services underly the problems we see at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, and need to be treated as part of the solution.
I’m always here to listen to local experiences of accessing health and care services, and will do all I can to champion the campaign to get the investment and improvement we need in Shropshire.