Political opinion: Simon Lightwood MP: "We are investing in your priorities and Britain’s renewal'
This week, Rachel Reeves stood in Parliament and spelled out Labour’s spending plans for the next three years, and I just wanted to take a moment to explain what it means for us here, in Wakefield and Rothwell.
You’re probably thinking that its just more empty words, that you’ll believe it when you see it and I can understand that – you’re fed up. You’ve probably been fed up for the last decade. And its justified.
Because the truth of it is, for the last 14 years, we were all feeling the same.
It takes too long to see a doctor, and its too hard and too expensive to see the dentist.
Our schools are falling apart, and we all know how frustrating our public transport can be.
Our police are stretched way too thin, and our prison system just isn’t fit for purpose.
We all know what the problems are – and for 14 years, the Tories took things from bad, to worse, to catastrophic and, whether you’re in Lupset or Eastmoor, Stanley or Rothwell, it’s been hard. Too hard.
But, under Labour, things are changing.
Just like our first budget, this month’s Spending Review wasn’t just another short-term fix, wasn’t just another layer of gaffer tape to try and keep things together a little longer. It was a real plan to renew our country.
And its working.
With over 3.6 million extra NHS appointments delivered in our first year, we’re making it easier to see a doctor; we’re seeing wages go up more in one year than they did in the last decade, putting more money in your pockets; and our economy is the fastest growing the G7.
I won’t lie, we had to make some hard choices when we first came into Government. But its because we made those hard choses then that we can really deliver change now.
And that is exactly what we are doing.
We’re making a record investment of £29 billion extra per year to run the NHS, cutting waiting lists and improving care.
We’re making the biggest investment in affordable housing in a generation, with a massive £39billion cash injection to build new, high-quality homes.
We’re boosting spending to put more bobbies on the beat in places like Wakefield City Centre where we’ve already doubled the police presence.
And we’re going to make sure that school children aren’t hungry by rolling out free breakfast clubs into every primary school and by expanding free school meals to an extra 500,000. We’ll lift 100,00 children out of poverty and keep little bellies full.
Don’t get me wrong, this spending review won’t fix everything. Change – real change – takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight.
But there has been a shift, and things are starting to get better. And if you’re not feeling it yet, I’m sure that you soon will be.
Our priorities are your priorities – rebuild our NHS, strengthen our borders, and put more money back in the pockets of working people in Wakefield and Rothwell.