Income Tax (Charge)
Danny Beales Excerpts(1 week, 5 days ago)
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Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)
The last few years have been incredibly difficult for our constituents and our national health service. Public services are on their knees, a £22 billion black hole has been left in our public finances and there have been real-terms falls in incomes and living standards. The Conservatives, as we have heard today, are still labouring under the fantasy that no problem exists, and that they are sitting in opposition—well, a few of them are sitting over there—through no fault of their own, but through some sort of electoral dysfunction. They are entirely unwilling to say what they would do to fix the broken services and our NHS, and what they would do to close the financial gaps that they have left.
I am pleased that we have taken the tough and necessary decisions on spending and taxation to put our NHS back on a firm footing—tough decisions that any Chancellor and any Government would have to make. The Conservatives have continually shirked those tough decisions. This Budget ensures that no one will see higher taxes on their payslip; there are no increases to employee national insurance, income tax or VAT. Those are promises that I made to my constituents when going door to door, and promises that we are keeping today. The necessary tax rises in this Budget rightly fall on those with the broadest shoulders; we are asking the wealthiest and largest businesses to pay their fair share to help rebuild our NHS and public realm.
This Budget is fundamentally pro-growth, and is focused on investment in our country’s future. We have heard Conservative Members today continually make the tired argument that it is the private sector alone that drives growth. As Members have rightly said, economic growth relies on a strong public and private sector. Without a functioning public sector, businesses cannot thrive. If trains are late, people cannot get to work. If staff are off sick, they cannot pay tax and cannot contribute. If workers do not have the necessary skills, productivity and growth stall. This Budget addresses those issues and those determinants of growth, and that is why I am proud to support it today.
Over 14 years, the Conservatives have starved our NHS of vital funding, but today we are talking about a vital £25 billion investment in our NHS—the biggest investment in it since the last Labour Government, excluding the covid years. This investment is transformative. I hope that some of this spending will be made available to primary care and to community pharmacy—the desperately underfunded front door of our NHS. I am really pleased that in recent days we have heard a commitment from the Front Bench health team of a further £2.5 million to support the development of proposals for Hillingdon hospital. I am sure that I will return to that issue and discuss it with the team in the days ahead. In summary, this Budget delivers on our promises on tax, on growth and on the NHS, and I am delighted to support it.
Access to Primary Healthcare
Danny Beales Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)
The fundamental promise of our NHS is that it is there for all of us whenever we need it, no matter how much we earn, where we live, who we are or what part of the health system we need to access. Unfortunately, after 14 years of Conservative government, that promise has been broken. It was particularly disheartening not to hear any contrition or reflection from the shadow Minister.
Despite the hard work of NHS staff, waiting lists are at record highs and patient satisfaction is at record lows. The NHS is near breaking point. We all knew this going into the election, as we heard it from our constituents— I certainly heard it from mine in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Even so, the findings of the Darzi review are still incredibly shocking.
Primary care, as Liberal Democrat Members have said, is the front door to our NHS, but that front door is increasingly being slammed shut in the face of our constituents, and the effects are being felt. Fifty years of progress on cardiovascular disease is in reverse, progress on cancer outcomes has stalled, and cancer survival rates in the UK are falling behind comparable countries.
There is a lot to do, and it will take time to do it, but I am reassured by the Minister’s comments that this Government are taking the matter incredibly seriously. I welcome the Secretary of State’s focus on the three critical shifts needed to modernise our health service, and particularly primary care: from analogue to digital, from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention. These shifts will not only improve value for money in our health service but will ensure that everyone in our communities lives a longer, healthier life.
We have heard today of the importance of GPs, particularly family GPs. GPs are seeing more patients than ever before, yet the number of qualified GPs relative to the population is falling. This strain will only be exacerbated as populations grow and age. I welcome the Government’s commitment to GP recruitment, with £82 million being invested in 1,000 more GPs.
The shadow Minister spoke about the capital investment pressures on the Government, and we certainly want to see capital investment in hospitals—including Hillingdon hospital in my constituency—but primary care capital investment is also needed to unleash potential capacity.
We have heard from Liberal Democrat Members, as well as Members on the Government Benches, about dental deserts and the need to improve access to dentistry. I welcome the Government’s commitment to engage with the British Dental Association. I know one of the Secretary of State’s first meetings was with BDA, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of those discussions.
Lastly, on community pharmacies, I met representatives of local and national pharmacy groups in my first few weeks as an MP. Pharmacies are incredibly well placed to take the pressure off GP services. Pharmacists are trained, professional and ready to go. I welcome the Government’s plans to create community pharmacist prescribing services to utilise the skills of pharmacists.
I will end as I started: there is a lot to do to rebuild and reform our NHS, so that it is there when we all need it. We have done it before and we must do it again.
Oral Answers to Questions
Danny Beales Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Wes Streeting
Despite my best efforts, the hon. Gentleman is back. I congratulate him through gritted teeth.
I was very impressed by what I saw at King’s Mill hospital, and I am proud of the last Labour Government’s record of delivering the shortest waiting times and the highest patient satisfaction in history. As I said during the election campaign, we will build on that success and learn from some of our shortcomings, too.
Danny Beales (Uxbridge and South Ruislip) (Lab)