Harlow MP Chris Vince backs chancellor’s decision to review plans for 40 new hospitals including Harlow
Health / Mon 29th Jul 2024 at 04:28pm
THE CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves has announced that there will be a review into the building of 40 new hospitals including one for the residents of Harlow.
In her Spending Inheritance Statement, the chancellor told the House of Commons that her philosophy was “If we can’t afford it, we won’t do it”
She confirmed that the Conservative pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 is now under review.
She says only one new project unveiled under this banner has opened to patients and only six have begun their main construction activity.
Ms Reeves said: “A complete review will be completed into the new hospital programme”.
She added: “Members campaigned in good faith on project that they thought the money was there for.
“Mr Right Hon Friend the Health Secretary will meet with all MPs who are affected.”
Harlow’s new MP, Chris Vince has backed his chancellor.
Mr Vince said: “The state of the public purse is truly shocking. There is a £22 billion hole in public finances.
This lays bare the true incompetence of the Conservative government.
“I will continue to fight to get Harlow the investment it desperately needs.
“I am in the process of organising a meeting with the Secretary of State for Health to argue the case for Harlow’s new hospital.’
Apolitical
2024-07-29 17:12:16
And to think that some of the people of Harlow actually voted for this bumbling serial failure.
Charlie
2024-07-29 17:31:37
Be interesting to hear his thoughts on the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners not receiving any pension credits or benefits. But think it's pretty certain he will toe the party line instead of sticking up for the people who voted him in. Seems a mnth is along time in Politics.
Adam
2024-07-29 17:53:11
IT will be utter chaos by mid point of this parliament, they just condemned a load of pensioners to freeze to death while spending 11B on net zero insanity aboard. To think people voted for these clowns thinking there would be change, if you did please refrain from future elections you are too stupid to have the vote.
David
2024-07-29 18:02:28
You were warned about voting Labour , now they show their true colours. Let the Pensioners struggle because they know they will not be able to complain. More money for the work shy because Labour know their votes Will keep them in for another term in Parliament. That's all they are interested in. Chris Vince try to prove me wrong.
Jim
2024-07-29 18:04:31
You can bet money will be spent but not for the benefit of Harlow residents, time to reduce all the foreign aid and look at this country. Anyone working or as it seems also pensioners will be getting completely done over.
Ed
2024-07-29 18:07:15
Adam you like to insult the people of this town and county often maybe its time you went home?
Seamus
2024-07-29 18:08:32
"Mr Vince said: “The state of the public purse is truly shocking. There is a £22 billion hole in public finances." How does Mr Vince explain then when the Ex Chancellor said " The OBR will confirm that senior ministers across the benches have had access to the books for years.". He also said "the position we have now, is better than it was in 2009. The current interest rate is half of what it was back then and the same with unemployment in that it is far smaller than the last time Labour were in charge. The black hole is about choices she(Ms Reeves) is now making to keep her union bosses happy". I wonder Mr Vince, how will Harlow pensioners who most do not understand the benefits system, unable to understand phone and internet communications, will manage without their winter payments whilst the civil service get an above inflation pay rise and junior doctors get a 22.5% payrise? I don't recall any of that being in Labours manifesto, nor did you Mr Vince, ever say pensioners, vote for me and loose your winter heating assistance. Shame on you
Marie
2024-07-29 21:21:39
The manifesto was a smoke screen as always. Promise this and that but once they are elected in they deliver on none of it. They hit the vulnerable, our pensioners. !! Shame on you !!
Jason Munday
2024-07-29 22:49:15
So can't afford previous stuff agreed. But suddenly a 22bil black hole when given the numbers b4 the election and said nothing but will take money off kids and 10mil pensioners won't get winter fuel allowances but unlimited to illegas, ukraine, overseas crap, the unions. Eco crap, Well done labour votes in 4vweeks change has happened for the worse in the new dictatorship of UK.
David Forman
2024-07-29 23:15:54
Labour has painted itself into a corner on taxation, but refuses to up the windfall tax on energy companies and refuses to introduce a wealth tax. As several have already have said it is about choices and which spending items are priority. The things I would point to in mitigation for Labour (no I'm not turning Labour luvvie) are an emphasis on health prevention, settling industrial relations disputes, use of the private sector to help clear the treatment backlog and some outsourcing of services. Whilst I'm dead against outsourcing and privatisation these must feature, in part, a justification for reviewing the new hospital programme. The question is how many new hospital projects get the chop? It is clear the £11.6billion of hospital maintenance repairs backlog gets sorted out and the RAAC concrete affected hospitals like in Kings Lynn. What is in addition to that lot is doubtful and would probably run into construction labour shortage issues anyhow. The key question is whether new treatments in the home and remote technology offset the need for more hospital beds? After, people recover better in their own homes if the home nursing care is reliable and good quality, supplemented by telemedicine.
Chris b-m
2024-07-30 08:11:39
Does the government need reminding it's purpose is to serve the people? Why is it all the services there to support the people are being cut? Which can be seen to be useful and provide benefit? Why not cut the unhealthy number of members of parliament and sub ministers looking after the most bizarre nonsense jobs nobody asked for not needed? Doesn't the government (political party removed) have a spending watchdog and some fiscal body to make sure spending is within limits? The kind of company paid an absolute mint to speculate and generate pointless figures.. After all if a private company was to spend reckless they would have the bank coming after them and being taken to court... Why does this all come as a surprise for government?
Stephen Archer
2024-07-30 08:24:41
Labour is doing the right thing to restore economic and political stability. These are the necessary foundations to attract investment and the growth needed to support living standards in future. Rachel Reeves has had to take some difficult decisions, made worse by the parlous state of the finances bequeathed by the Tories. Although it might appear easy to blame the previous administration, a letter released only yesterday by the OBR confirms details of unfunded spending plans by the Conservatives which were not disclosed earlier in the year. As for the new hospital, we will have to await the outcome of the review. Lets hope it's positive for Harlow at least. But if it's not, it wouldn't be the first promise of Boris Johnson to come to nought. The Conservatives really do have a lot to answer for. But now it's fallen on the new government to take the first difficult steps in putting them right.
View from Afar
2024-07-30 09:53:36
Conservative government’s figures described as “a work of fiction” https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/23/head-of-obr-says-lack-of-budget-details-led-to-work-of-fiction-forecasts-last-year
William Harris
2024-07-30 09:56:33
No New Hospital but more new HOUSING but when the new go to A and E etc a can't find a parking space and then 15Hours waiting in Aand E we don't need a new Hospital Ha Ha Ha
Nicholas Taylor
2024-07-30 10:48:41
What is really needed is a bigger waiting area for A&E and as has been seen with the £9 million spent on the new Lister House, more doctors and other staff being employed, otherwise the service wil not get any better, indeed with tens of thousand more potential patients, things will only get worse.
Guy Flegman
2024-07-30 10:56:21
So Labour have spent 35billion since coming to power and now claim there is a 20 billion black hole, and somehow it’s not their fault. The solution is to take money from pensioners who have no way of replacing that money as they are too old to work. We have an ageing population and old people are the largest voting block. Seems to me that the bar for politicians is so low that the only skill they require is limbo dancing! And to top it all Labour have the nerve to call the Tories the nasty party. I would like to add that Chris Vince is proving my theory correct that you cannot trust someone with 2 first names
Higgy
2024-07-30 12:18:41
I’m in my mid 70’s and have been a Labour supporter/voter all my adult life but never again,how any so called socialist party can pick on defenceless pensioners beggars belief.I personally feel totally betrayed,because my wife and myself both have small personal pensions we paid into we don’t claim any benefits and are punished for it.No doubt mealy mouthed Chris will toe the party line and tell us hard decisions have to be made.
Jo
2024-07-30 12:48:46
A shocking failure of constituents less than a month into the job. What I predicted sadly. I hope you can sleep at night Chris Vince. Don't get to comfy at the HoC those constituents that were hood winked and voted in anger will soo realise their mistake.
Phil
2024-07-30 13:18:12
The last government have promised this for years, just like the £20 million secured for Harlow regeneration which was never there. I agree a new hospital is needed, but the truth of the matter is the money is not there. Does the now government carry on the hot air of the Tories and continue the lies, or do they do the right thing and come clean and admit the money was never there in the first place. I don't believe the site has ever been secured either. CV you have a hard job with this one, but unlike the previous government you are doing what my granny always told me to do "honesty is the best policy".
Guy Flegman
2024-07-30 14:00:22
I should point out that before the election the now chancellor said that because of the OBR everyone knows the fiscal position. She also has been on record saying that labours spending will require a further 20 billion before the election. Hummmm.
lostinthemiddle
2024-07-30 14:09:32
Putting politics aside about who said what and so on...if they're still building that Gilston Park few thousand homes, will we have enough capacity in the town for basic services? If no new hospital should this be stopped too?
Brian Aston
2024-07-30 17:41:12
It is concerning that, with Angela Rayner's zeal to build 1.5 million homes. How many local communities will end up suffering through lack of places at schools, basic sewage standards, road congestion and hospital/doctor spaces. With the plans to build new mini towns around Harlow, how many of them include a new hospital? We also have been promised thousands of additional hospital, doctor and dentist appointments, but these are needed by the populations now, but these will be swallowed up by new build housing. And as the population gets older their needs for these services will just increase. Ah well, it will all be sorted by the VAT on private education and non-domiciled VAT changes.
Me, Harlow
2024-07-30 23:01:45
It isn't the fault of Labour that this county is in such a mess, everything is broken and no money, people have amazingly short memories. Instead of taking away winter fuel allowance, taxing pensioners higher, ignoring hospitals and improving schools that they just flipping well raise taxes after all. If the spend it back on us, our needs and not on iffy projects that are pure waste then it is money well spent. They will not do this though because they, like all parties, will be desperate to cling onto power.
RLB
2024-07-31 02:12:34
Enjoy your time in parliament Chris. It will be a short one at this rate
Edward
2024-07-31 07:49:42
Excuses and a lack of ambition: sums up both Labour and Conservative parties. When the country was in deep debt, facing the destruction wrought by WW2 and despite the problems of rebuilding we created the nhs, built new green towns and began on a path that radically improved educational provision and opportunity. These investments improved the lives of millions. The new towns were a phenomenal success. Today we need to make tremendous shifts in the way we generate energy and travel there's more than enough scope to tax existing systems whilst providing cheaper lower cost alternatives as the transformations are made. For instance dropping the bottomless money pit of nuclear power and stopping the construction of Sizewell C and all future projects and moving to green alternatives will save countless billions, similarly as would moving transport from road to rail and local transport to good public transport and safe cycling routes and transforming local doctors surgeries to local health hubs capable of dealing and treating most non emergency conditions whilst introducing major fitness and sports programmes in schools and the workplace again will solve many of the health problems more effectively and at less cost than trying to build 40 hospitals. As in the post ww2 period vision and ingenuity are needed not random uncoordinated greybelt development. The lib dems called it right with their proposals to build new towns that would be hubs for new green industries and provide Council houses in thr same spirit as when Harlow was created. "New green town, new job, new house " was the motto it worked phenomenally well.
lostinthemiddle
2024-07-31 09:10:33
Edward, while i respect your point, i'm not sure nuclear energy is a bottomless pit of money. In the UK it provides about a fifth of our overall energy use, possibly more in winter, so it is essential for bridging the gap until we can provide more green energy, which itself is also not cheap. Nuclear energy is estimated at 4-10p/kWh vs renewable energy at 7.5-13.5p/kWh. So moving to green alternatives will actually cost more rather than saving billions. GB Energy may try to improve the ratio of renewable energy and increase sources, this is going to take time and lots of investment, probably more than nuclear. So until we get there, we can't just cut off energy sources that we need and need to continue investing in our energy security. Much the same as the argument for moving to rail, this would need a huge investment upfront in order to do it, plus there's not much space to put down new rails.
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