Vote Labour for a better Croydon
I’ve had the enormous privilege of serving as Member of Parliament for Croydon North since I was elected in a by-election just over two years ago. In that time I’ve campaigned hard on the issues that matter most to local people – for more school places, more police, investment in our hospital, action on fly-tipping, and more jobs. I’ve stood up for Croydon North and made our voice heard loud and clear – but without a Labour government we will never get the change we need.
David Cameron’s Conservatives have left Croydon facing the biggest shortage of school places in the country, cut police from our streets and watched violent crime soar, let our A&E fall into crisis, did nothing about growing rates of homelessness, overcrowding and soaring rents, and slashed funding for basic services like street cleaning and youth services. They cut the services our community relies on so they could cut taxes for millionaires. Now they want to make things even worse with plans to double the cuts if they are re-elected on Thursday. Our community simply couldn’t survive another five years under the Tories.
On Thursday we can choose a Labour government which has a better plan for Croydon. It will be a government committed to raising living standards with an £8 minimum wage, scrapping unfair zero hours contracts, a freeze on energy bills, and 25 hours of free childcare a week.
It will be a government which saves our NHS. Labour will recruit more nurses and doctors, and guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours. We will make it easier to see a doctor and reduce the strain on our overstretched hospital which earlier this year faced meltdown with ambulances queuing up outside and patients left for hours on trolleys before seeing a doctor.
Croydon needs an additional 4,500 primary school places because the Tories have denied our children funding while wasting £240million on schools in areas where they are not needed. Under Labour the education budget will be protected and rise each year in line with inflation, and we will put an end to the scandal of nearly 300 infants in Croydon being taught in oversized classes.
Labour will protect neighbourhood policing and halt the Tories’ extreme plans for more cuts. The Tories have closed every single police station in Croydon North and cut our police – no wonder violent crime is rising. And we will tackle the housing crisis by building more affordable homes, acting to curb excessive rent rises and slum landlords, and make it easier for first time buyers to own their own home.
The choice this Thursday is clear. A country run for the powerful few at the top under the Tories, or a country run for working people with a Labour government that’s on your side.
We’ve seen what five years of David Cameron has done to Croydon. Let’s not wake up on Friday with five more. Vote Labour for a better, fairer Croydon.
Polls are open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday 7 May.
