Christmas Adjournment

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab)]

I suspect that many Members, on this side anyway, have considered basing their speeches on Charles Dickens’s famous Christmas ghost story. It may not be original, but who does not wish that the Prime Minister could be visited by spirits and wake up determined to lead a kinder, more compassionate Government—a Government with a plan to tackle the evils of poverty, low wages, homelessness, debt and desperation; a Government whose Ministers lie awake at night devising policies to free people from fear or hunger, rather than dreaming of deportation flights? I have seen many versions of “A Christmas Carol” over the years, but there is no doubt that this Government are best captured by the 1992 Brian Henson version, the one with a cast of Muppets.

For too many families in Britain, conditions this Christmas are nothing short of Dickensian. Pensioners are sitting in the dark with a tiny electric heater, too worried about their gas bill to turn on the central heating. Children are going to bed hungry, their parents not knowing how they are going to make ends meet. I think Dickens would be horrified that almost 180 years after his story was published, its lessons have still not been learnt. While gas and oil companies make extraordinary profits, this Government refuse to tax them effectively to protect our constituents from the cold of winter, as Labour has proposed, and they show a similar disregard for my constituents who rely on our health services.

Last week, when Nottinghamshire MPs met local NHS leaders, it was clear that the Government’s stubborn refusal to negotiate on pay is utterly self-defeating. Those NHS representatives told us that nurses struggling to pay the bills are working fewer NHS hours and picking up bank or agency shifts instead, costing the NHS billions extra, while others are leaving the profession altogether. Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has begun providing hot meals for £2—an initiative to help staff cope with the cost of living crisis—after becoming aware that some were going without decent meals. Ministers clapped NHS workers during the pandemic, but now they look away as those same staff are resorting to food banks. It is shameful that the Prime Minister and his Health Secretary are refusing to sit down with nurses and other NHS workers, listen to their concerns and talk about their pay. Bah humbug indeed!

However, it is not only NHS workers whose voices are shut out. Last Thursday, Nottinghamshire firefighters and support staff, the chief fire officer, the chair of the fire authority and the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union all travelled to Parliament to make the case for fair funding for our county’s fire service. Not one of the seven Nottinghamshire Conservative Members attended, and the fire Minister was nowhere to be seen. Firefighters, like nurses and paramedics, often face unimaginable stress at work. Last month, despite the bravery and dedication of the emergency services, Fatoumatta Hydara and her two young children, Naeemah and Fatimah, were killed in a house fire in Clifton, in my constituency. I am sure that you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and the whole House will join me in sending condolences to their family and friends.

Incidents such as that remind us just how vital our fire services are, but in Nottinghamshire, since the Conservatives took power in 2010, firefighter numbers have fallen by 29%, response times are substantially slower, and the service is stretched to the limit. Understaffing was so bad throughout last summer’s wildfires that Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service had to telephone off-duty firefighters and ask them to do extra shifts. On at least one occasion, the nearest second appliance called to Nottingham was from High Peak, more than an hour away.

Underfunding and understaffing are having a very real impact on my constituents’ ability to access vital public services. Record numbers are waiting for NHS treatment, some for more than two years. Patients are left waiting hours for ambulances. Yet another critical incident was declared at Nottingham University Hospitals yesterday, with operations and outpatient appointments cancelled. If the Government do not provide more funds for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, there will be even fewer firefighters and even longer response times. Right now, budget cuts are forcing the fire authority to consult on moving to have just one fire appliance at each of Nottingham’s two fire stations. The chief fire officer describes this as the least worst option, but if the cuts go ahead they will make every one of my constituents less safe by next Christmas.

It is amazing that the Government still have the gall to suggest they are trying to level up this country. Since 2010, Nottingham City Council has had to make over £300 million of savings to its budgets. Government funding has been cut from £126 million to £26 million—almost £700 per resident. Like many other local authorities, it has had no choice but to raise council tax and bid for every pot of money going. Councils should have found out by the end of this month whether their bids for levelling up cash have been successful. Now they will have to wait until the end of January. Funding to redevelop Nottingham’s Broadmarsh and invest in the Island Quarter would unlock further development of those areas, creating jobs, homes and opportunities in our city and stimulating economic growth for the wider region. It is very much needed. The east midlands remain at the bottom of the table for Government investment and as a result our region is unable to fulfil its potential. When will that change?

Christmas should be a time of joy and hope for the new year ahead. I hope that 2023 marks a turning point, although I am afraid that the real change my constituents need will come only when they have a Labour Government. A general election is top of my Christmas list, in case you’re listening, Santa! I remain an optimist. Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to end by wishing you, the whole House and all parliamentary staff a happy and healthy Christmas break. As Dickens had it, “God bless us, every one!”