| Although we welcome the investment in health announced today, it will simply go to waste if we don’t address the elephant in the NHS waiting room - the crisis in social care. The social care review must be completed this year - not in three years - and local authorities must be given the resources to care for people in the community, not in hospitals.
And instead of looking to cut already squeezed budgets, the Government should urgently pursue economic growth through a proper EU trade deal to unlock billions of pounds for our vital public services.
They should negotiate a new, bespoke UK-EU customs union, the growth from which will boost the public finances by over £25 billion a year.
They must back small businesses by overhauling business rates and scrapping the NICs hike.
And by fixing the health and care sectors, more people can return to work and play a role in strengthening our economy.
If the Government were to take these ambitious steps - while making big banks, social media companies, and gambling giants pay their fair share instead of small and family businesses - we could get public services back on their feet, keep our streets and our country safe, and help people in this cost-of-living crisis.
Please share my response to the Spending Review with your friends and family, to show them the level of ambition that we Liberal Democrats have. |
