THE chief whip of the Liberal Democrats was disappointed with the budget, saying it a damp squib.
Wendy Chamberlain was visiting the new Wokingham parliamentary constituency where she met the party’s candidate for the forthcoming general election, Clive Jones. As part of the visit, she joined party members as they knocked on doors, canvassing support for the would-be MP.
But on her mind was Jeremy Hunt’s speech earlier in the day (Wednesday, March 6).
Among the measures announced was a 2p cut in National Insurance rates and an additional £2.5bn for the NHS.
However, the Lib Dem chief whip and MP for North East Fife was not impressed.
“So much of it had been trailed in advance. There were the cuts to National Insurance and very little else,” she told Wokingham.Today.
“I’ve been speaking to voters, talking to them on the doors today and it doesn’t feel like it’s moved the dial for the Conservatives at all.
“When you talk about some of the real cuts, the real lack of infrastructure investment we’ve seen, the Conservatives have been responsible for that while in government.
“So while we may not be seeing a general election immediately, it’s quite clear it’s going to be a change (of party) election when it comes.”
Ms Chamberlain was disappointed with the way in which the Conservatives had handled the NHS, including the proposals to create new hospitals by 2030. The plan, in the 2019 manifesto, included the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
In the budget, Mr Hunt pledged to upgrade NHS IT infrastructure, and pledged £2.5bn for the service.
“In some places the hospital is crumbling,” she said. “This is a Conservative government that, when they came to power in 2019, promised to invest in 40 new hospitals.
“None of that seems to have been delivered in any meaningful way.
“I think people here in Wokingham want a hospital that is fit for purpose, where it’s safe for staff and patients before (the government) start thinking about making other changes that just don’t feel credible or achievable.”
Ms Chamberlain said one of the key challenges facing the country was productivity and economic growth.
“Part of that,” she said, “Is because we’ve got increasing numbers of people not well enough to work. If we don’t properly invest in the NHS and public services we won’t get them back into work, and we won’t grow the economy.”
On the 2p cut to National Insurance, she said it was something her East Fife constituents would benefit from.
“The reality is there was very little in this budget for pensioners. I have a number of constituents who are older, who need more support and it is not there for them. I think that’s something the government needs to reflect on, particularly as the Conservative vote tends to be older.”
Earlier in the day, current Wokingham MP Sir John Redwood spoke in parliament in the budget debate and reflected on the US economy and how it performs against European countries.
On the money allocated for revamping the NHS’ computer estate, he said: “We do not actually need new investment to get ourselves back to the productivity level we were at in 2019. We do not need to use all today’s wonderful artificial intelligence; we just need to use what we already had, which we had in 2019. It is about management, personnel and giving the personnel the right tasks.”
He also called on the government to abolish UK Government Investments saying it was a very expensive body with a “dreadful track record”.
