In the run up to the general election, I’ve been looking in more detail at some of Labour’s policies. It seems lately that people are always saying things like, “what this country needs is…” and “this bloody government…” and there’s a general sense in the air that people are fed up, they think all politicians are the same, and pretty useless at that. But no one ever talks about what they want to see done differently. We just know that there’s always some red tape or some barrier to us getting on in life due to government decisions, new legislation or budget cuts.

The 2017 Labour manifesto was like a wish list, and yet it was all fully costed with sound strategies for funding their ambitious plans. 2019 is no different. Labour is offering that change that this country needs to undo the years of austerity and restore people’s faith in parliament. And one thing I am certain of, is that Labour MPs under Jeremy Corbyn are definitely not the same as the self serving, elitist career politicians we’ve grown used to. So unless we want to keep them in order to have someone to blame and complain about, here’s a once in a life time chance to vote for someone who is completely different.

Anyway – today I want to talk about the NHS

I know everyone says this election is about Brexit – but it’s not. Or at least it shouldn’t be. The 2017 election was all about Brexit and look at the mess the country is in. According to doctors, nurses and other medical professions, the NHS will not survive another 5 years of the Tories.

And  I know, no one really believes that they will be allowed to sell off the NHS… but they’ve been doing it for years. And yes, I know New Labour opened the door to NHS private contracts with PFI, but this is not New Labour this is new old Labour or Labour 2.0 or just Labour…

I’m no expert so I’m going to just try and make sense of what I am aware of in terms of the privatisation of the NHS.

As you know, for those that can afford to “go private” there are private health care providers and have been for a long time. If you pay, you get seen first in a fancy hospital with nicer food and less patients per room.

That’s not the issue here, because many of us don’t go private for 3 reasons:

• we can’t afford to
• we don’t want to jump the queue
• going private diminishes the importance of the NHS and helps the argument for private health care

However, what we are talking about now, is the way that NHS services have been put out to tender, with some NHS departments being closed, while private health providers are winning millions of pounds worth of NHS contracts, to deliver services to NHS patients, which are still free to the patient but probably cost the NHS more than if they were delivered by the NHS.

Say the value of a contract is £10 million. A private company has shareholders who all want to earn a nice fat dividend off the profits of that £10 million. So they have to deliver £10 million worth of health care while actually only spending, say £5 million of the budget so everyone can have their share of the profit.  Spending only half the money would mean treating half the number of patients, or seeing all of the patients for half of the time, reducing overheads by cutting down on appropriately qualified staff, and delivering a substandard service.

The NHS still needs to treat all these patients, but what if they’re not being treated properly by the private companies and end up back in the NHS hospital requiring additional support, which the over stretched, under funded NHS staff struggle to provide. But they provide it anyway because the NHS staff are absolute legends and all deserve our utmost gratitude and respect and hugs and thank you cards and a hugely massive, long  over-due payrise.

Of course, to the NHS patient, they just see shorter visits and longer wait times and the argument for going private becomes quite enticing… but in a lot of cases they’re not being seen by the NHS but by a private company which is operating under the NHS banner, making it look bad to make a case for privatisation.

So Labour want to undo the damage. Bring the contracts back into the NHS, give is a boost in funding each year to help it get back on its feet, reintroduce nursing bursaries and recruit more doctors, so we can our NHS back.

So if you want to make this election about anything – make it about saving our NHS.

Because, giving our healthcare budgets to private companies that put profit before people is just plain stupid. In my opinion.

In the run up to the General Election on 12th December I want to look at different Labour policies to explore what it is that Labour is offering. Labour’s policies will transform the country and their plans are fully costed. They know their plans are achievable, realistic and affordable.

So today I want to talk about Universal Basic Income.

Again, this is a policy that really excites me because as a self employed person I don’t have a regular income, some months I might do well, other months I’m struggling to pay the bills. Unfortunately there is no income support for freelancers who have a bad few months, we just have to struggle and hope for the best.

A universal basic income will mean that every single person, regardless of their employment status, will be given a payment every month. It won’t be conditional on anything, nor will it be reduced in relation to the amount of money you earn through any employment.

Sounds a bit mad, but imagine the impact that could have on people’s lives.

For unemployed people, freelancers, gig economy workers this means having a guaranteed regular income every month that will ensure they can cover their basic outgoings. How freeing that would be for the beautiful dreamers wanting to pursue their creative talents. It would give people hope, improve self esteem and boost motivation.

Alongside another policy proposal – the 4 day working week – universal basic income would give people the chance to have more free time, reducing stress and anxiety caused by working long hours. And if people are able to work less hours, that will increase job opportunities as full time roles become job shares.

I went self employed after redundancy. I’d always wanted to work for myself but hadn’t had the guts to give up a regular salary. I turned my redundancy into a positive by seeing it as an opportunity to go self employed. But so many people are stuck in jobs they hate, which impacts their mental health, sense of motivation and feeling of fulfillment. A universal basic income will give people a real choice, a chance to cut down their employment hours to return to education, retrain or pursue their ambitions.

John McDonnell recently visited Liverpool to discuss his vision and promised that when Labour is in government, Liverpool will be one of the pilot cities for Universal Basic Income. I can’t wait!

In the run up to the General Election on 12th December I want to look at different Labour policies to explain what it is that Labour is offering. Labour’s policies will transform the country and their plans are fully costed. They know their plans are achievable, realistic and affordable.

So today I want to talk about The National Education Service.

This policy really excited me when I heard about it a few months ago. The education equivalent of the NHS – free education for all from cradle to grave.

I mean, just WOW!

To give some context to my excitement, back in 2007 I started working for VOLA – A voluntary sector learning consortium in Merseyside. As a members organisation made up of voluntary sector learning providers, VOLA bids for large education grants and contracts on behalf of its members. So where a small charity which reaches a very local neighbourhood is too small to bid in to, for example, million pound pots of European funding, the consortium, which could reach the whole of Merseyside through its members, can. And does. In fact in the last 12 years, VOLA has secured £18 million for the Liverpool City Region in terms of learning grants and as a result supported the growth of many small charities and social enterprises across the region.

My role was communications. I kept our membership informed of changes in curriculum, changes in education policy, I organised events, managed the website and newsletters.

Part of my role involved me being the Adult Learners’ Week Co-ordinator for Merseyside, encouraging people across the City to take part in informal learning. I worked with organisations, learning providers and businesses to promote learning in all its glory – from degrees, professional qualifications to informal courses and hobbies.

I’ve never stopped learning. I’m always signing up for new classes, or downloading online courses. Or just joining groups and learning from peers. I even studied and earned a teaching qualification so I could run my own classes.

I was made redundant in 2011 following funding cuts after the coalition government came to power and I watched adult learning decline. I also listened to the parents and teachers we’ve engaged with since starting Little Sandbox and have heard about the issues facing schools. It’s fair to say that education for all has suffered. But the knock on effect of cuts to the adult education budget is far reaching. No informal adult learning, means no social opportunities, a rise in mental health issues and people being held back from learning new skills for work.

So The National Education Service is a promise from the Labour party that I am very excited to support… and a service I will no doubt make use of for many years to come.

In the run up to the General Election on 12th December I want to look at different Labour policies to explain what it is that Labour is offering. Labour’s policies will transform the country and their plans are fully costed. They know their plans are achievable, realistic and affordable.

So today I want to talk about Brexit.

Possibly the most divisive of all subjects, Labour has come under criticism from all sides for not being clear enough about their stance on Brexit.

For me, it has always been pretty clear that Labour wanted to unite the country; respect the result of the 2016 referendum but also support a deal that would be palatable to the millions of people that voted remain.

The 2016 referendum wasn’t a landslide by any stretch of the imagination. The percentage was very slim and in many votes, a much greater margin would have been expected – look at the fixed term parliament bill for instance – Requires a 2/3rd majority in favour of a general election in order to pass. But Theresa May pushed the article 50 button based on a very thin majority.

Ultimately, Labour’s policy for Brexit is to return to the People of the county. Presenting them with the option to vote to leave with the negotiated deal or remain in the EU.

The Labour Party believes that the deal negotiated by the government is bad for the UK and wants to negotiate a better, fairer deal. However it also recognises that the best deal reached, may still leave the UK worse off than if we stayed in the EU and so the party hasn’t committed to whether it will campaign to remain or leave in a second referendum, because it doesn’t know what deal they will be able to reach with the EU. Once thing is for certain, at the moment, remaining is better than the current Boris Johnson deal and if that deal went back to the people, Labour would campaign to remain.

Unfortunately it’s all a lot of ifs and ands at the moment. But who really believed leaving the EU would be easy?

With the Tories and the Brexit Party offering to get Brexit done, even if that means a no-deal Brexit, and the Lib Dems, promising to revoke article 50, the Labour Party is the only party offering people a choice. an honest choice, a choice between leave and remain, but unlike the last referendum, we will actually know what we’ll get if we choose either option, rather than the theoretical promises of the 2016 Leave campaign. And at the end of the day, that is the most democratic solution to the ongoing Brexit debate.