Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Virendra Sharma Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab) [V]]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this vital Budget debate. This Government are endangering our NHS through their lacklustre approach to the coronavirus pandemic, hospital services and the social care crisis. Last Wednesday, it was clear that there is no plan for a recovery in NHS finances. In fact, the NHS was only mentioned once during the Chancellor’s entire speech.

During the pandemic, nurses and NHS workers have gone above and beyond to contain this hideous disease. Their sacrifice has been immense, which makes the 1% pay increase offered by the Chancellor all the more insulting.

Like the PM, I suffered and was saved by brave frontline staff. Having received world-class care himself, the PM and his Government cannot be so miserly and must reward our NHS heroes with a substantial pay rise.

In my own constituency, after years of dedicated campaigning by local Members of Parliament such as myself, we saw off the “Shaping a Healthier Future” programme. However, its toxic legacy lives on. Ealing Hospital has lost full A&E services, which we badly need. We have lost our maternity ward and we have lost in-patient paediatric care. The closure of the maternity unit in particular—where my own grandchildren were born—has been very harmful to my community. The Government must put their money where their mouth is and properly fund our NHS, and level up areas such as mine, with a densely populated and fast-growing population.

Finally, I want to speak about social care services, which at present are in the midst of a severe crisis. Some 40,000 older people have tragically died in care homes since the beginning of the pandemic, yet, in the Chancellor’s speech last week, there was no mention of social care. The Government have nothing to say to the hundreds of thousands of older people, neglected by a broken system that denies them the care that they so desperately need.

Instead of papering over the cracks, as this Budget does, I urge the Government to tackle these inequalities head on, properly fund social care and give NHS staff the pay rise they truly deserve. Only then will the Government be able to say that they are truly committed to levelling up our society, ensuring that no one, regardless of their wealth and background, is left behind.