By Tahir Maher
It’s been wet and fresh when we have been out canvassing over the last few months.
Canvassing around Reading and Wokingham, we, as a party, have had a good response on the doorstep. We regularly speak face-to-face with many residents and listen to their views and concerns. This interaction is vitally important in helping us understand and represent residents’ views. Residents are raising concerns about local and national issues.
There is concern expressed by residents for the NHS, sewage released into our rivers, climate change, cost of living, and the state of the economy.
I felt compelled to stand as a Parliamentary candidate for the Earley and Woodley constituency because care for our residents in our society has declined sharply under this government.
Recent poverty figures published show that one in six British children faced food insecurity in 2023, up from the previous year. UNICEF figures last year showed that child poverty in the UK at the end of 2021 was the worst out of 39 OECD countries (many of whom have reduced child poverty), and this in a country as rich as the UK.
Waiting lists across the NHS are shocking. In England, the percentage of A&E waits lasting over four hours increased fivefold, from 8% to 42%, in a decade.
Even worse is trying to get an appointment to see an NHS Dentist. There have been significant cuts to local authority funding over the last 14 years when the demands for the essential services provided by them are increasing. These are a few examples, yet the Chancellor recently thought reducing taxes was his priority.
No wonder residents are frustrated, and we hear about it on the doorstep. Residents have lost faith in this government.
We want a Fair Deal for all, a society that cares for residents, and a change in government priorities. Residents are asking for an economy that supports those facing a cost-of-living crisis, better services from the NHS, a care system that works, a government that bans large bonuses for senior managers responsible for releasing sewage into our rivers, and adequate funding for local authorities.
We, as Liberal Democrats, hear the residents and will continue to fight for a government that cares for and serves all its people, both at the local and national levels.
Tahir Maher is the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Earley and Woodley
