The MP for Wokingham has said he would ‘not be standing here today’ if it wasn’t for Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH), which he has once again pledged support for in Parliament.
RBH was given funding to be redeveloped and relocated by the former conservative government under their New Hospitals Plan. But it has since been put at risk as Labour announced a review of the plan, to address a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in its finances.
Yesterday (September 5), Clive Jones MP used his maiden speech in parliament – a convention for new MPs to introduce themselves and their constituency – to highlight his ongoing support for a new RBH.
The Liberal Democrat said: “They [his children] were born in the nearby Royal Berkshire hospital, where I am proud to be a governor.
“It is also the hospital where doctors found my cancer in 2008 and began my successful treatment. In 2016, they were there to help me again and diagnosed a need for a quadruple heart bypass.
“Without the Royal Berkshire Hospital, I would not be standing here today.”
Mr Jones was diagnosed with breast cancer, which is rarely found in men, in 2008.
Leader of the Conservatives in Wokingham, councillor Pauline Jorgensen, recently accused Reading Labour MPs of failing to keep their promises of the new hospital to new hospital.
Clive Jones told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he was ‘particularly astonished’ with Ms Jorgensen’s comments.
He said: “The reality is the Conservatives were leading the electorate down the garden path saying they were providing 45 new hospitals when they never had the funding.”
Mr Jones added that delivering RBH alone would cost more than £1.2 billion – which conservatives ‘knew’ there was ‘never enough money for’.
In Parliament, the Lib Dem MP reiterated: “Parts of the building date back to 1839, and staff have to work in offices where the windows do not open, and they regularly have to walk around buckets that are there to catch dripping rainwater.
“I must repeat my plea to both the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care for a speedy decision.”
His speech went on to highlight and celebrate areas of the constituency, including the Henley Regatta, Wokingham’s growing brewing sector, small businesses and charities.
Mr Jones was also joined by his ‘inspirational’ social and religious studies teacher, John Featherstone, in the public gallery to watch his speech.
Mr Jones told the Local Democracy Reporting service that he was ‘very pleased’ with how the speech went and for the focus on the new hospital.
