Weekly Update - 26 May
Dear John
This week, Labour has been setting out how we will build an NHS that is fit for the future. Speaking on Monday, Keir Starmer described the all too familiar scenes – patients scrambling at eight o’clock for GP appointments, long waits in A&E, record numbers off sick, people pulling their own teeth out, seven million on waiting lists, and ambulances that don’t come in time – a system at breaking point. It shouldn’t be like this in our country, but this is the reality today after the Conservatives have brought our NHS to its knees. Labour will deliver one of the biggest expansions of the NHS workforce in history and ensure the health service has the modern technology it needs to deliver the best care. We will double the number of medical school places, create 10,000 more nursing and midwifery clinical placements each year, double the number of district nurses qualifying each year and train 5,000 more health visitors, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status. We will also recruit 8,500 more mental health staff paid for by closing tax loopholes exploited by private equity. Under Labour, the NHS will be there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer!
Politics Live
This week, I joined the BBC’s Jo Coburn and others for Politics Live. We discussed, among other talking points, the chaos and confusion of the government’s immigration policy, the weakness of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the never-ending Conservative circus of crisis after crisis. On immigration, Labour is clear: our points-based immigration system will work for Britain, our businesses, our public services, and our communities. Labour will ensure our immigration system is fair. And, if this government doesn’t have the ideas and it feels it’s very difficult then it needs to step aside. Meanwhile, the country is sick and tired of the never-ending crises that have engulfed successive Conservative governments. When Rishi Sunak became the fifth Conservative Prime Minister in seven years, he promised integrity and professionalism. What we’ve actually seen is weakness and more of the same. The Prime Minister does not look in control of his own Ministers and is constantly trying to appease his backbenchers. Labour will clean up politics, work in the interests of the whole country, and create a genuinely independent Integrity and Ethics Commission to restore standards in public life. Find a clip of my contribution to Politics Live below.
Calling time on poorly regulated parking firms
Constituents regularly write to me about unfair Penalty Charge Notices and the poorly regulated private parking sector. Last year, a new Private Parking Code of Practice was introduced but then swiftly withdrawn pending a ‘temporary review’. However, the Code remains withdrawn almost a year later and the government are yet to set out when the Code will be reissued. All the while, constituents continue to raise cases with me. Examples of cases I have dealt with involve misleading signage, opaque appeals systems, aggressive debt collection and exorbitant fines. Therefore, this week, I have written to the Transport Secretary to ask that they outline a clear timescale for the review and when constituents can expect the Code to be reissued. Find my letter below.
Local News
This week, Edgbaston Cricket Ground hosted 1,500 pupils from schools across Birmingham and Warwickshire as an early half-term treat and to see some of the country’s best women cricketers in action. This is part of Edgbaston’s drive to further raise the profile of women’s cricket, inspire future generations of crickets, and to promote physical and mental health through sport. I wish to thank all those involved in making this day a great success! If you live in Harborne, you may be aware that a Birmingham City Council are consulting on a planning application (2023/02215/PA) submitted to them for the erection of single storey portable buildings to provide car wash and valeting facilities. This is located at the Car Park Adjacent to No. 1 St Johns Road, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9LD. Comments can be returned to the Council online here by 29 May. The Mobile Household Recycling Centre will be visiting Ferncliffe Road (B17 0GQ) on Monday 5 June between 07:00 and 12:45. If you are in the area and have bulky household waste to dispose of then please come along. And finally, I hope you all have a fabulous bank holiday this weekend!
Preet Kaur Gill MP, Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston covering Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, Quinton and North Edgbaston
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