Across the country there are thousands of examples of outstanding schools, hospitals and GP practices. But with the population rising - amongst the young and the old - our schools and NHS needs greater funding if they are to prosper in the years ahead. That's why I was delighted with the Conservatives' recent spending commitments:
- NHS: delivering an additional £34 billion in the next 5 years, so the NHS can continue to be the best healthcare service in the world.
- Schools: increasing primary and secondary school budgets by £14 billion via the new national funding formula
The reason we can afford these investments without the big tax rises and extra borrowing that Labour is proposing is that we are growing the economy and employment. This generates extra tax revenues which we can invest into our public services. That's why we will be able to provide more funds for health and education than the Labour Party, which will crash the economy and see tax revenues fall.
As your representative I will be a strong voice to ensure that our area receives its share of the extra funds from economic growth and to benefit from new health and education initiatives that are launched in the coming years.