It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore).
It is extremely odd for Members to be discussing a Queen’s Speech presented by a Government with no majority and a Prime Minister who has no public mandate, yet we find ourselves here. We are debating a Queen’s Speech that was essentially a party political broadcast. The empty Government Benches speak volumes. There is seemingly no interest in debate, leaving Conservative Front Benchers to chunter from a sedentary position.
It is shameful that, in the light of the Grenfell disaster and the Government’s hesitant acknowledgment that fire regulations are not up to standard, the Queen’s Speech has not announced any additional funding or support for the fire and rescue service. I find it appalling that it was not even mentioned once by the Government.
The Government’s austerity agenda has led to fewer firefighters, fewer fire appliances and fewer fire stations, as a result of which the average work load per firefighter has risen, which means that there is less time for training and preparation, but increased strain on their mental health. Despite the severe strain on resources, the past few years have seen firefighters respond courageously to the Grenfell Tower fire, moorland fires and the Beechmere Care Home fire, to name but a few. These fires represent
an immediate life-threatening risk to our communities, but rather than strengthening our fire and rescue service, central funding was cut by 30% between 2010 and 2015, with a further cut of 15% to be delivered by 2020.
The Government’s reckless approach to public safety includes their delayed response to reforming the failed building regulations which led to Grenfell. The only action taken to improve the day-to-day safety of those living in unsafe buildings is a ban on combustible cladding on select buildings. Otherwise, the regulations are the same as they were before Grenfell more than two years ago. An effective programme to reform building and fire regulations needs to address the whole system, not just one component. Our community safety is not a priority for this Conservative Government. Labour will always put public safety first by supporting the fire service and implementing rigorous fire regulations, while this Government choose to spend public money on cutting tax for the super-wealthy.
Similarly, yesterday’s speech offered nothing sufficient to confront the problems in the education system. It is this Government who reversed the progression made under the previous Labour Administration—a Government who have cut school budgets and increased class sizes.
Both Lincoln University and Bishop Grosseteste University are in my constituency, and they need support if they are to continue to attract talented students. The Government failed to announce any form of additional support for the poorest students, who leave university with huge sums of debt. The Conservatives have priced aspiring students out of a university education and cut the adult skills budget by around 40% since 2010. They are not the party of opportunity or social mobility; instead they are the party of the rich and the status quo. The Government must take Labour’s lead and scrap tuition fees while providing opportunities for everyone to learn, irrespective of age or family income. There are nearly 400 nursery schools facing closure in England over the next 10 years, including Kingsdown and St Giles nursery schools in Lincoln. Although the Government have accepted that nursery schools’ funding is insufficient, they have not committed to a long-term funding plan to secure their future beyond 2020. That is causing real concerns in my constituency.
As an ex-nurse, I find it totally reprehensible that the Government claim that this Queen’s Speech represents a huge investment in our NHS. Their destructive agenda over the past nine years has created the NHS and social care crisis and put many of our constituents’ welfare at risk. Before 2010, long-term funding increases in the NHS were 4% per year, and yesterday’s unfunded commitment is just 3.4% and comes after eight years in which NHS budget increases have averaged just 1.4%. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that this uncosted commitment will barely maintain current service levels. Believe me, people are struggling now. I meet my former nursing colleagues on a monthly basis and I know what is going on in the NHS.
In Lincoln, we need investment to improve the standard of provision after the damage that years of austerity have done to our frontline services. Monks Road walk-in centre is closed, Skellingthorpe doctors’ surgery is going to close, and United Lincolnshire Hospital NHS Trust is in an estimated deficit of £80 million. A bit of money has been thrown at Boston but everybody else is struggling.
As a nurse, I saw the consequences of cuts right on the frontline. I find it absolutely shameful that, while staff work tirelessly to ensure that people are cared for, the Government do not ensure safe staffing for those who work in our NHS. Again, I get that right from the people on the frontline, once a month. Austerity has crippled the healthcare available to my constituents. We cannot tinker around the edges. We need a transformational plan, not a defence of the status quo.
We must scrap the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and end the undermining of our public health service by opposing privatisation. We must reinstate the nursing bursary—that is an absolute must—and safe staffing levels in hospitals to ensure that a full-strength workforce can work safely and efficiently, and, actually, cost-effectively. Trained nurses who work on a ward regularly are much more cost-effective than agency nurses, but nurses are not being trained because the Government have taken away the bursary.
I could go on for hours highlighting the areas that the Government have neglected, but the Queen’s Speech basically enumerates their entire strategy. It is not about improving people’s lives, addressing social injustices or reducing inequality. It is a pre-election broadcast for the Conservative party that is full of unfunded, focus group giveaways that the Government have no intention or means of delivering.
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