Dear Editor,

I write in response to the litany of articles from the Leader of the Harlow Labour group, Cllr Chris Vince, and his constant defeatism and talking down of Harlow, particularly in response to the new hospital Harlow is getting.

It is high time that the Harlow Labour group stopped talking down the new hospital and instead look at the incredible opportunities this will bring, not just bringing healthcare in Harlow into the twenty first-century, but creating the best possible environment for the incredible staff at PAH. Furthermore, the fact that thanks to another major Government investment into Harlow, namely the move of the UK Health Security Agency (into which the Government has already invested nearly £400 million) as well as Harlow’s Enterprise Zone (yes a further £27.5 million Government investment into Harlow), Harlow truly will be the public health science capital of Europe, creating thousands of high-skilled jobs for Harlow’s young people, and more investment to build an even better Harlow.

Since 2010, the Government have invested many tens of millions into PAH – significantly more than the previous Labour Government did. In fact, as far as records show until Keir Starmer visited PAH a few weeks ago, no senior Labour figure had visited for decades – such is the commitment the Harlow Labour group had to the successful campaign for our new campaign. Not once did they support Robert Halfon MP in his tireless crusade to secure a new hospital, and not once did they press the Labour Party nationally to support this. Most recently, in last year’s Autumn Budget, Labour MPs voted against the £3.3 billion additional funding for the NHS.

And to the sceptics and doomsters, the Government has been abundantly clear whether it be in the House of Commons, official Government papers such as the Levelling Up White Paper and Spending Review, or in Ministerial visits to Harlow – Harlow is getting a new hospital, in fact a “new, integrated high-tech healthcare campus”, backed by £3.7 billion of initial capital funding to support the New Hospital Programme in its first four years.

Of course the impact of Covid has delayed the works. Most fair-minded residents know this and also accept that debate over the location of the site has caused further delays. Some residents have called for it to be built on the existing site, some have called for it to be built on the new site which in itself takes more time and is more complex due to ongoing negotiations with land-owners to purchase the site as well as the time taken to receive the necessary planning permissions. But that said, I am resolutely confident that this will now accelerate significantly.

And for that reason, I sincerely hope that the Harlow Labour group no longer talk down this major investment and moreover, talk down Harlow. We live in an incredible town which is entering its next chapter – a chapter only made possible because of billions of pounds of investment from this Conservative Government whether it be the £45 million announced for the town centre in the last two years, the £85 million Junction 7a, the £800 million move of the UK Health Security Agency to Harlow, our new hospital, our Enterprise Zone and Innovation Park, the huge investments into our school infrastructure and over £20 million into Harlow College in recent years – I could go on. We are situated at the heart of the London-Cambridge corridor, we can reach central London in a mere 30 minutes on the train or fly from Stansted, just 15 minutes away. We are the home of some of the UK’s most impressive SMEs and have truly ridden the wave of innovation, inventing fibre optics, antidepressants, the franking machine, the post it note, and yes, the recipe to Baileys.

And yes, the previous council did allow our town to decline. But we now have the possibility to rebuild our town, making it one of the best in Britain to raise a family, work, start a business and live. I passionately believe that the future of Harlow is the brightest it has been since the town was first pioneered and built and that is in no way thanks to the constant talking down of our prospects from the Harlow Labour group.

Kind regards

Cllr Dan Swords