Labour’s Plan for schools

I believe strongly in education to open opportunities for everyone. I work in a school, I am a school governor and trustee for several primary and secondary schools and also a member of the Gloucestershire Schools Forum and a Local Leader in Governance. I see the need for more teachers and Labour’s plans for more childcare places and breakfast clubs in primary schools will give all young children a better start.

Labour’s long term education plan means higher standards in schools. Recruiting 6,500 more teachers to ensure every child is taught by a specialist, paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Better wellbeing for young people. Employing mental health support staff in every school, again paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools.

Giving every child the best start to the day. Introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England, paid for by closing the loophole which allows some mega rich people who live in the UK to avoid paying tax.

Preparing young people for work and life. Give children greater opportunity to study music, sport and the arts by changing the rules about how schools are held accountable.

Higher paid jobs through better skills, apprenticeships and training.

Labour’s Plan for Childcare and Early Years

I am a trustee for a local childcare setting and know that there are not enough places, or enough staff

Labour has pledged to create more than 100,000 new nursery places for children from nine months old, helping to both drive up standards and meet demand, as a key offer for working parents.

We plan to set up more than 3,300 new nurseries in existing primary schools in England to support a major expansion of childcare.

The existing childcare system is expensive and underfunded, and many parents are forced to drop out of the workforce to look after their children, so our plan is for near-universal provision, available from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school.

Get the NHS back on its feet

I am a governor for the Gloucestershire NHS Hospitals. I was injured in the line of duty as a serving police officer and have had multiple leg operations with the NHS.  It is a personal passion to see the NHS properly funded. I will fight for a better and stronger NHS. Local people need better access to high quality services and dentistry.

I will support and work to ensure community use for the Dilke and Lydney NHS buildings.

Labour’s long-term health plan is

Faster NHS treatment by delivering two million more appointments a year by paying NHS staff more to work evenings and weekends.

Fewer cancer deaths by improving early diagnosis for cancer by doubling the number of NHS scanners.

700,000 more urgent dentist appointments.

Fast access to mental health services by recruiting 8,500 new NHS mental health staff.

Return of the family doctor by cutting red tape so that patients can see the same GP each appointment if they choose to.

All fully funded by scrapping the loophole which allows some mega rich people who live in the UK to avoid paying tax. 

When collecting a prescription recently, the pharmacist told me that under the Tories they have had funding frozen, or in real terms cut. He mentioned that there are more and more expectations of local community pharmacists, to assist with GP services for example, but no plan from the outgoing government on how to achieve these. 

Labour and I have seen how many pharmacies are going out of business and the impact it has on local populations in areas of deprivation, and how many of those patients will land on the doors of GPs.

If elected, I will push for more funding for community pharmacies – we need to ensure we have a number of these settings, to help assist with the GP waiting lists and ensure we all have access to medication and/or advice when we need it with appropriate waiting times. We also need to ensure our pharmacists and pharmacy staff are recognised and feel recognised for the hard work they do.

Protecting the environment and setting up Great British Energy

On the environment the choice is clear: the Conservatives have rolled back environmental commitments, granted new licences for oil and gas drilling and have allowed private companies to pollute our rivers.  The Tories tried to privatise our forest, I will work to protect and safeguard our natural environment.

I feel privileged to have raised my kids in the Forest of Dean, surrounded by its natural beauty and I am passionate about protecting our forest and rivers.  Tackling sewage dumping and agricultural run-off is a priority for me.  The Severn and The Wye are both badly affected.  This is unacceptable.  The Severn has had unprecedented sewage discharges, and the Wye has been classified as declining, meaning it’s dying because of sewage and agricultural runoff.  It’s a river that was abundant with wildlife and a place where we used to be able to enjoy swimming, paddleboarding and other leisure activities.

Labour pledges automatic and severe fines for water companies that harm the environment and pollute our rivers and new powers to the regulator to block bonuses until water bosses have cleaned up the filth.

Labour has bold environmental policies for improving homes, tackling pollution and a new public energy company to drive renewable electricity and cut energy bills.

Labour will set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security, paid for by a proper, time-limited windfall tax on oil and gas giants.  

What Labour’s long term Green Prosperity Plan means for you

Energy bills cut once and for all, taking hundreds of pounds off annual household energy bills for families and businesses.

Rebuilding Britain’s industrial strength, with good jobs in every part of the country – 500,000 new jobs in our industrial heartlands and coastal communities.

Stronger national security and energy independence by using our abundant natural resources so that we can control our destiny.

Matt says: “The choice is clear: the Conservatives have rolled back environmental commitments, granted new licences for oil and gas drilling and have allowed private companies to pollute our rivers.

“Labour has bold environmental policies for improving homes, tackling pollution and a new public energy company to drive renewable electricity and cut energy bills.”

Housing

I worked in social housing, and I understand that the biggest problems are for people who face economic hardship, or who are starting on the housing ladder.  Affordable homes for our children is something I want.  Often houses are in the wrong places too.

Labour’s housing plan

The dream of homeownership is now out of reach for too many young people. The Conservatives have failed to act even though the housing crisis is well known to be one of the country’s biggest barriers to growth. Labour will get Britain building again, creating jobs across England, with 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

We will immediately update the National Policy Planning Framework to undo damaging Conservative changes, including restoring mandatory housing targets. We will take tough action to ensure that planning authorities have up-to-date Local Plans and reform and strengthen the presumption in favour of sustainable development. Labour will support local authorities by funding additional planning officers, through increasing the rate of the stamp duty surcharge paid by non-UK residents. We will ensure local communities continue to shape housebuilding in their area, but where necessary Labour will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need.

Labour will deliver the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We will strengthen planning obligations to ensure new developments provide more affordable homes; make changes to the Affordable Homes Programme to ensure that it delivers more homes from existing funding; and support councils and housing associations to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Labour will prioritise the building of new social rented homes and better protect our existing stock by reviewing the increased right to buy discounts introduced in 2012 and increasing protections on newly-built social housing.

Labour will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible, and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites. But brownfield development alone will not be enough to meet our housing need.

Labour is committed to preserving the green belt which has served England’s towns and cities well over many decades. Under the Conservatives, greenbelt land is regularly released for development but haphazardly and often for speculative housebuilding. Without changing its purpose or general extent, Labour will take a more strategic approach to greenbelt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places. The release of lower quality ‘grey belt’ land will be prioritised and we will introduce ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature.

In partnership with local leaders and communities, a Labour government will build a new generation of new towns, inspired by the proud legacy of the 1945 Labour government. Alongside urban extensions and regeneration projects, these will form part of a series of large-scale new communities across England.

Transport

Mark Harper is the Secretary of State for Transport, but what has he done for you?  Bus services have been cut, our roads are full of potholes, there’s been no investment in rural public transport, instead the failed HS2 rail project cost you billions of pounds

Labour has pledged to fund councils to repair up to a million potholes a year in England.

We will provide a multi-year funding settlements to local leaders” to fix broken roads, seeking to end the sticking plaster approach” to repairs.

Labour will give power to local transport authorities and reform funding by giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding and allowing them to plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities.

Allow every community to take back control of their buses by removing barriers that currently limit bus franchising powers only to metro mayors.

Step in to safeguard local bus networks and support public ownership: by removing the Conservatives’ ban on publicly owned bus companies and building on the success of award-winning public bus services still in operation. 

Labour plans to renationalise the rail network within 5 years.  Our goal is to create a unified and simplified governance structure that places passengers at the heart and places train operators under public ownership and control. Public ownership for our railways is about the practical need to deliver better services where they have failed.

There are 6 key objectives for our railways, they need to be: 

1. Reliable – so that people can have confidence in their journey, whether it’s a one-off trip or their daily commute. 
2. Affordable – so that prices are kept, wherever possible, at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers. 
3. Efficient – so that people know that their journey will be as straightforward as possible, from booking to travel, and to provide better value for the travelling public and taxpayer alike. 
4. Quality – so that passengers have the service experience they have a right to expect. 
5. Accessible – so that our railways are available for everyone to use.
6. Safe – so that people don’t worry about their safety on the railway and are not in fear of accidents or crime while travelling.

Tourism and Small Business

Tourism is important for the economy of the Forest of Dean.  This place of natural beauty attracts people and provides income.  Another reason why the environment must be protected.  It’s also important that small businesses who work in tourism are supported. 

The current business rates system disincentivises investment, creates uncertainty and places an undue burden on our high streets. In England, Labour will replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way. This new system will level the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivise investment, tackle empty properties and support entrepreneurship.

Labour’s plan for economic growth has been developed for all UK businesses. But small firms, entrepreneurs, and the self- employed face unique challenges. That is why, in partnership, Labour has developed a plan for small businesses – the lifeblood of communities and high streets across the country.

We will take action on late payments to ensure small businesses and the self-employed are paid on time. We will improve guidance and remove barriers to exporting for small businesses. Reform of the British Business Bank, including a stronger mandate to support growth in the regions and nations, will make it easier for small and medium sized enterprises to access capital. We will also reform procurement rules to give them greater access to government contracts.

Time for change

Britain is a great country, but it has been badly let down over the last 14 years. The Tories have left the country worse off than when they started. Living standards are down. Crime goes unpunished. Ambulances don’t come. Schools crumble over our children’s heads. Sewage floods our waters. Mortgages and food prices are through the roof.

Labour will tackle the cost-of-living crisis through it’s clearly thought-out plan and policies.

There’s a clear choice at this election: More chaos with the Tories, or stability with Labour. More decline and division. Or hope and unity with a changed Labour Party under Keir Starmer. Labour has a long term, serious plan to change Britain.