Tom Gordon votes for action on Sewage and Health and Social Care in King's Speech

In one of their first votes in Parliament, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Tom Gordon has supported a King's Speech amendment which would see new action on Health & Social Care, and Sewage. 

Tom Gordon backed the Liberal Democrat amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the government to address the Health & Social Care crises, and the Sewage crisis, amongst a package of other support.

The Liberal Democrat amendment called for “sufficient measures to address the crisis in health and care, such as the introduction of a legal right to see a GP within seven days, a guarantee for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days from urgent referral, free personal care in England, better support for carers, and a cross-party commission on social care” and for “the Government to stop the scandal of sewage dumping against which the previous Government failed to take action, including by replacing Ofwat with a new regulator.” 

The Liberal Democrat amendment to the King’s Speech focused on improving the health and care system, fixing the sewage scandal and tackling the cost-of-living crisis. 

The Conservatives and SNP both failed to vote for the measures put forward by the 72-strong Liberal Democrat grouping in Parliament.

Commenting on one of their first votes in Parliament, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, Tom Gordon said: 

“Today, I am proud to say that I have used one of my first votes in Parliament to support an amendment putting policies to fix the crises in health and social care, get the economy back on track, and end the sewage scandal at the centre. 

“These are the sort of policies that people in Harrogate and Knaresborough voted for. They voted for the Liberal Democrats because for them a local champion offering a fair deal and who would deliver change for the better was the most important thing. This is what I’m now making the case for in Parliament. This amendment looks to finally fix the sewage scandal and deliver the new support that our NHS desperately needs to deliver for my constituents.

“I am totally committed to putting forward ideas, day in and day out, to help clean up the dreadful mess left behind by the Conservatives. I very much hope that this Government will listen to us as we bring the concerns from the doorstep to Parliament and give people the fair deal that they want and deserve.”

ENDS

Full text of the Liberal Democrat amendment to the King's Speech:

‘but, while welcoming measures aimed at upholding standards in public life, which have been neglected under UK, Scottish and Welsh governments in recent years; humbly regret that the Gracious Speech does not include sufficient measures to address the crisis in health and care, such as the introduction of a legal right to see a GP within seven days, a guarantee for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days from urgent referral, free personal care in England, better support for carers, and a cross-party commission on social care; and calls on the Government to stop the scandal of sewage dumping against which the previous Government failed to take action, including by replacing Ofwat with a new regulator, to support families with the cost of living and tackle poverty, including by introducing a national food strategy, extending free school meals to all children in poverty, and by scrapping the two child benefit cap, and to ensure that rural communities and farmers receive adequate support, and to reform the system for parliamentary elections by replacing first-past-the-post with proportional representation, so that every vote counts.’