Weekly Round-Up

As 2022 gets underway, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

I hope the next 12 months bring you and your family happiness and success, and that collectively we can put the challenges of recent times behind us.

With Parliament returning this week, we might have hoped that the government would have taken a new approach in the new year, but sadly we have seen more of the same bluff and bluster.

Whether it be the Prime Minister failing to disclose key messages to the investigation of his flat refurbishment because he “got a new phone” or refusing to work with Sadiq Khan to properly solve the TfL funding crisis, the Government have been more interested in protecting themselves than the country they are elected to serve.

NHS Staffing Crisis

A report from the Health & Social Care Select Committee this week highlighted the devastating impact that staff shortages are having on the NHS, creating an unsustainable backlog of patients waiting for treatment.

Whilst the government have made many empty announcements and commitments on NHS funding in recent months, the report outlined how there has been no concrete plan to address the fundamental issue of staffing levels.

As well as the immediate and serious impact these staffing shortages are having on patient safety, they are putting further pressure on our already over-stretched primary care system.

We have seen in London that 200 military personnel have been brought in and whilst their efforts are welcome, this will not solve the underlying issues and the government need to provide long term solutions rather than short term fixes.

I will continue to work with colleagues in the Shadow Health team to hold the government to account on this, and ensure lives are not continued to be put at risk.


World Braille Day

This week we celebrated World Braille Day, and as an RNIB champion I want to put on record my sincere thanks to the Royal National Institute for Blind People for all the work they do to make the world a more accessible place for people with sight loss.

Braille is a vital tool of communication for many people with sight loss, and it is vital that we continue to raise awareness of it and the positive impact it can have on people’s lives.