 Adam
Afriyie
MP
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NHS Missing from
Pre-Budget Statement
08-Dec-06, Windsor Express
Article.
Today’s Pre-Budget Report has been a tedious
anti-climax. There was so much hype about what Gordon
Brown, in what was possibly his last Pre-Budget
Statement as Chancellor of the Exchequer, might say,
that the actual content was a disappointment.
Little of what Mr Brown promised was new; he simply
regurgitated previous years’ promises and expected the
public to believe that what he was actually doing was
promising new investment in our public services. All the
Chancellor gave us was reheated spin on education, a
misleading description of the economy, and no action to
prepare us for the challenges ahead.
What was shockingly absent from his statement was any
mention of the NHS whatsoever!
On Saturday, Windsor Conservatives held an NHS Action Day
to campaign against Gordon Brown’s NHS cuts. We talked to
local residents and asked them what they thought of local
health services and what they wanted from their NHS. We are
lucky in Windsor to enjoy some of the best healthcare
facilities in the country and this was reflected as
Heatherwood Maternity Unit, amongst other facilities, got a
big thumbs-up from most residents. The concerns that most
people had expressed were centred around the possible budget
cuts affecting local services.
The way that the government has organised NHS finance
means that if a trust performs well and finishes the year
with a surplus, or at least not in deficit, it can find its
budget for the following year cut as excess funds are
diverted away to other trusts which have not performed so
well. This is of course deeply unfair for local residents,
and for the doctors, nurses and support staff who work so
hard to keep us healthy.
All in all, with no mention of the NHS, Brown’s
pre-Budget Statement was an insult to the British people and
it's no wonder that so few people think he deserves to be
Prime Minister - without an election. |
I
believe
People are happier
when making their own decisions.
Business is the
engine of the economy that generates our jobs, incomes and
taxes.
Government should
not interfere in our lives beyond protecting and defending
us.
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