Chris Vince

In all sincerity, I thank the Lib Dems for bringing the debate to the House. It is fair to say that Labour Members are more than happy to discuss the NHS and the new hospital programme at any opportunity. I would again like to put on the record my thanks to all the staff at Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow. I also pay tribute to the staff of the East of England ambulance service, who go back and forth to the hospital. I often visit the Princess Alexandra—I actually visited it today—and I see a workforce who work incredibly hard in difficult circumstances. They are a credit to not only my town of Harlow, but the NHS as a whole. As has been mentioned, the new Princess Alexandra hospital was one of 40 new hospitals that only existed in the mind of the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. When I was elected, I found a project without any funding, without a business plan and without even a site to build the new hospital on. The idea that it would be built by 2030 was an absolute pipedream. The current Princess Alexandra site is too small. The corridors and wards are too small, the A&E department is crammed, and it is literally falling apart. We have seen sewage leaking into the wards and we saw the roof of the ICU falling down. Fortunately, nobody was injured. [Interruption.] My speech is so riveting that I have woken Jennie up, so I apologise for that. I support the Government’s amendment and pay tribute to the work already done by this Labour Government. Waiting times are down, and we finally have a realistic, achievable and fully funded timetable for a new Princess Alexandra hospital and at least £1.5 billion of investment in our town. In the meanwhile, of course the Princess Alexandra hospital will need funding. I have met the chief exec a number of times and will meet him again next week to discuss the matter. I know that the Minister is already preparing herself for the lobbying she will get from me in the Tea Room next week. I would like to end my speech on something that there will be consensus on across the House.