Political Viewpoint

By David Bodimeade Rayleigh & Wickford Labour Party

BRITAIN is broken but labour will fix it again.

Fourteen years of Tory chaos and decline left Britain weaker, and you much worse off than in 2010. Five Tory prime ministers (Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss & Sunak) left us exhausted by the continued infighting. Keir Starmer’s new government are providing stability and competence.

Labour has kept it’s solid poll lead since Partygate (when Boris Johnson and his mates partied whilst the rest of us were in lockdown) and Liz Truss’ disastrous Mini-Budget (which sent mortgage payments through the roof).

Britain is broken, and the Tories broke it. Nothing works. But Labour will fix it, as we did after 1997.

The NHS was a massive issue during the election. Millions wait up to 4 weeks to see their GP, and there are record waiting times in A & E too. During a Leader’s debate Rishi Sunak was laughed at when he pretended that waiting lists were coming down. They’d gone up from 7.5 million to 7.8 million since he’d pledged to reduce them. Not funny.

Every visit to your GP costs the NHS £40. Every trip to A & E costs the NHS £400. Labour will create an extra 40,000 NHS appointments every week. This will reduce the waiting lists. It will mean fewer people then go to A & E, and sick people who get better can then go back to work. Everyone’s a winner.

Millions can’t get to see an NHS dentist. Some waiting lists are over 10 years. Labour re-introduced NHS dentists after 1997 and will create more NHS dentist appointments again.

When Labour left office in 2010 satisfaction with the NHS was at its highest. Now it’s at its lowest. Labour will reverse that again.

Many secondary schools don’t have enough teachers. Labour will provide another 6500 teachers.

Many parents desperately need to work but can’t get childcare. The millions of new childcare places that the Tories promised in April never arrived. Labour expanded childcare in 1997 and will do so again, including free breakfast clubs in schools.

The Cost of Living Crisis is still to be fixed. Gas and electricity prices are still too high whilst fat cat energy bosses enjoy record profits. Labour will implement their windfall tax (which the Tories opposed). This will help create Great British Energy. This will provide cheaper green energy, reduce energy bills and create thousands of new jobs.

 

Liz Truss’s disastrous Mini Budget, which put mortgages up by several hundred pounds per month, made buying a property even harder. Millions of young people won’t get on the housing ladder. Renting is much harder too. A lack of rental properties has forced rents up.

We desperately need more new properties, especially homes that young people can afford. Labour will build 1.5 million new homes, and two new towns.

The police are invisible, so people don’t report crime, even if they can find a police station. Labour will introduce 7,000 more police office officers to help tackle knife crime and anti-social behaviour.

Many workers have been on strike because they need to earn a decent wage. Labour will resolve the strikes by getting round the table and hammering out lasting agreements. Labour will introduce new rights for workers and may consider linking the minimum wage with the cost of living.

With public services so broken you’d have thought the Tories had continually cut tax. In 2019 we paid 33% of our national income (GDP) in taxes. We now pay 37% – the highest taxes for 70 years. Labour will NOT increase income tax, national insurance or VAT.

What happened locally in the election?

Rayleigh and Wickford is one of the Tories’ genuinely safest seats, and they won again.

Labour selected Bayo Alaba to fight Southend East and Rochford in December 2023. I was impressed by how engaging, thoughtful and unassuming he was. He has been out talking to voters continually since then. I spent several days volunteering for him and was delighted when he won by 4,027 votes on a swing of 19%.

Southend West and Leigh was considered much less winnable. I was even more surprised to see Labour’s David Burton-Sampson win by 1,949 votes on a similarly big swing.

Both new Labour MPs will serve the city of Southend with integrity, respect and compassion.

And it was great to see former Basildon MP Angela Smith (and one of the nicest people I know) walk up Downing Street to join the cabinet as Leader of the House of Lords. Angela served in the last Labour government and will bring lots of experience to the table.

Britain is broken. The Tory legacy is not a good one. It will be tough but Labour will fix it, as we did after 1997.

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