Letter from Parliament - Liz McInnes MP

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Liz McInnes MP

The approaching election has given an increased sense of urgency to business in the House of Commons as we work to consider legislation before the Parliament dissolves at the end of March. I’m working hard to make sure the right decisions are reached on things like firefighters’ pensions, fracking, and protecting the NHS in that time.

On Friday I attended the Rochdale Council of Mosques Annual Dinner, where it was my pleasure to present an award to Councillor Sultan Ali on behalf of Mohammed Sharif in recognition of his services to the community. I fully support the Council of Mosques in their mission to promote harmony and unity between the people and to make valuable contributions to economic, spiritual and civic life. It was a privilege to be in the company of community leaders throughout the borough, including representatives from Greater Manchester Police, the Clinical Commissioning Group and Rochdale Borough Council.

In Parliament I have spoken in debates on the NHS and have highlighted issues around problems with the performance of Greater Manchester's privatised patient transport service. I am pleased that the Secretary of State for Health has finally begun to engage in meaningful negotiations with NHS staff over their long overdue 1% pay rise. It is a disgrace that the actions of this government have driven NHS staff to have to take strike action and I am pleased that entering into dialogue with staff and unions has averted the recent planned industrial action. Until recently, I too was an NHS employee and I know that health workers do not take strike action lightly. I do hope that at last NHS workers will achieve proper recognition for the hard work that they do.

Labour will build an NHS with the time to care through 20,000 more nurses and 8,000 more GPs. We’ll also guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours and cancer tests within one week. All of this will be paid for through fairer taxes on properties worth over £2 million, on hedge funds, and on tobacco companies. None of our manifesto commitments, including on the NHS, will require any extra borrowing.

The Time to Care fund will be used to train and hire thousands of NHS staff and deal with the Tory NHS crisis. But more work is needed if we are to transform our health service so it can meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS, which was launched last week, will see services integrated from home to hospital to help end 15-minute adult social care slots. We’ll also back 5,000 new homecare workers to help those with the greatest needs, end the neglect of mental health and restore the right values to the NHS.

Many of you have written to me to express your concerns about fracking and I do think that it is an issue which requires extreme caution from any government; I remain unconvinced that any economic benefits which might materialise will be worth the cost to the environment.

Labour has always said that shale gas development cannot go ahead unless there is a robust regulatory regime in place so I was pleased that Monday’s vote on fracking regulation in the House of Commons brought a huge u-turn by the Government and a victory for Britain’s environment.

Labour’s amendment to the Government’s Infrastructure Bill means shale gas developments won’t go ahead unless proper safeguards are implemented and they will also be banned outright in National Parks and other protected areas.

It will also ensure that no work would be done unless stringent safety checks had taken place and been passed. Our amendments were accepted by the Government hence there was no requirement to move to a vote. This will ensure that if any fracking does take place it will be subject to serious health, safety and environmental checks. The Tories and Lib Dems have repeatedly ignored people’s genuine and legitimate concerns over shale gas and seemed prepared to plough on at any cost.

I attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Group on Medical Research which gave me a very useful insight into the current scientific breakthroughs which are helping us in our understanding and treatment of disease. It was a privilege to have access to leading scientists and I was able to have a very relevant discussion regarding an issue which many constituents have contacted me about, that of mitochondrial DNA techniques to help overcome the debilitating effects of mitochondrial disease. We are shortly to debate this issue in Parliament and it is very helpful to have access to up to date, relevant information from an expert in the field.

I’ve also been working hard with my caseworkers to take on the many hundreds of queries that come to me via emails, letters, phonecalls and visits to my surgeries around the constituency. If you have an issue you’d like to raise, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.