One of the best parts of my role serving Bermondsey and Old Southwark is coming to community events and seeing first-hand the great, voluntary work local people do to help one another and make Southwark an even greater place to live.
One event that I was lucky to attend recently was the Macmillan coffee morning at the Silverlock Estate, wonderfully organised by Jill Davis, a true community lynchpin.
In amongst the fairy cakes and tiramisu and before the bingo kicked off, I held a mobile advice surgery for local people to try and offer guidance and help to people affected by poor decisions or policies emanating largely from central Government but also the council.
Given covid lockdowns and the impact that had on events and people’s ability to see neighbours and friends, it was great to see so many people come down. It was especially nice to catch up with a group who visited Parliament for a tour and tea with the great Rotherhithe organisation, Time and Talents.
Since I was first elected, I’ve tried to be as accessible and available as possible for local people. I know a key part of my role is to help local people navigate difficult situations. If you’d like me to hold a ‘mobile advice surgery’ like this in your area, or would like to book to see me in my Bermondsey office, please get in touch. I’ll always try to help.
Macmillan and their volunteers do some great work, but as soon as the Tories came to power in 2010 they scrapped treatment targets for people with cancer. They claimed this was tackling bureaucracy but patients have lost out and since 2010, almost 35,000 more patients every month are waiting longer than two weeks for a cancer hospital appointment.
In Southwark, there are over 8,000 people living with cancer and these avoidably long waiting times affect them and their families deeply.
Waiting times for beginning treatment for cancer after an urgent referral are now similarly dire.
In June this year, only 48% of recently-diagnosed local people started their treatment at Guy’s and St Thomas’ within 62 days of their urgent referral – well below the expected standard of 85%.
Between January and June this year, 458 local people with cancer waited more than 62 days to start treatment.
These delays need not happen but the Government has imposed chaos and incompetence across the board since 2010 and has left patients and the NHS suffering.
Labour has a long-term plan for our National Health Service that puts patients first but Ministers need to stop ignoring the mess they have created.
The Tory conference has demonstrated neatly the chaos of their Party.
Tories queue up to applaud Truss who imposed higher bills and mortgages for all Brits.
Ministers take helicopters to Manchester to announce the scrapping of HS2 to the city. HS2 affects jobs and companies in Southwark and is a major project to improve the environment as well as speed up journeys by taking thousands of trucks off the road.
Years into the project, Ministers have de-railed plans, leaving a Manchester to London trainline reaching neither Manchester nor London. We need a change of Government to get HS2 and the whole country back on track.
I hope the Labour conference sets out the clear, positive alternative for the country. Working in the national interest to repair the damage the Tories have done but also to improve opportunities and services for everyone. Britain needs hope, not more hopeless Tory cuts, incompetence and chaos.