A version of this article was originally published by the Tiptree Tribune on 13 April 2015.
The General Election campaign has hit the halfway point and I am grateful to residents who have contacted me in recent weeks offering help and support with my campaign. I have also been pleased to receive many emails and letters from residents enquiring about a wide-range of local and national issues.
Some of the biggest issues residents write to me about include the economy, the NHS, future housing development, infrastructure, immigration, and Europe. These are all issues which I have been heavily involved with since being elected to the House of Commons in 2010.
I am proud of the Conservative Party's record in Government transforming the economy over the last five years. In 2010, after 13 years of Labour Government, the British economy was at risk with the biggest deficit in peace time, debt rising at an unsustainable level, high unemployment and youth unemployment, and tax increases planned on businesses, employers, and fuel duty, which would have hit hardworking families hard. Labour even planned to impose a new tax on telephone lines.
Since 2010, Conservative policies have helped turn the economy round. Our long-term economic plan has led to earners paying £825 per year less in income tax as a result of the personal tax free allowance being increased. A Conservative Government elected on 7 May 2015 will help workers save hundreds of pounds more in the next Parliament by raising the threshold to £12,500, with the threshold for paying the 40% rate rising to £50,000 to help middle earners. The long-term economic plan has also led to support for businesses with business rates, lower rates of corporation tax, and fuel duty being 20 pence per litre lower than it would have been under Labour's plans.
One thousand jobs a day are being created in the economy and there are two million more jobs in the economy than in 2010. This has led to unemployment in the Witham constituency falling by 60% from its peak under Labour and I welcome the jobs that local businesses are creating.
Because of the strength of our economy, it has been possible to invest record amounts of funding into the National Health Service. Nearly £13 billion per year more is now spent in the NHS than in 2010 - an increase which Labour opposed and branded 'irresponsible' - with the Conservatives committed to spending more to provide the NHS with what it needs if re-elected.
There are now 9,000 more doctors and 7,000 more nurses in the NHS, including 70 more doctors and 240 more nurses at Broomfields and Colchester, the two hospitals which most local residents use. We have cut the numbers of bureaucrats by 20,000 so that more patients can receive treatments and resources can be focused on the frontline and meeting the challenges ahead. Some 57,000 more patients a year receive diagnostic tests now at those hospitals and 4,500 more patients are being seen at Accident and Emergency within 4 hours than in 2010. Because of the focus on investing in the frontline, I am able to work closely with NHS providers to press for improvements in services and to campaign for a new multipurpose healthcare centre for the local area.
By contrast, Labour has committed to reversing our reforms, which would mean more taxpayers' money wasted on bureaucracy rather than frontline services for patients. Residents will hear a lot from other parties about the NHS over the rest of the campaign. But it is the Conservative Party which has the strongest record investing in the NHS, focusing on quality, and supporting the provision of free healthcare.
As a Conservative, I believe strongly that we should protect green spaces from unsustainable over-development and am working with residents and communities to make representations objecting to various planning applications and proposed development sites. One of the main reasons why our communities cannot accommodate more large-scale developments is because of a lack of infrastructure.
To address these infrastructure issues, I have campaigned successfully for new investment in upgrading the A12, better rail services and superfast broadband roll out, as well as action being taken to bring the dualling of the A120 closer. Getting better road and rail links across the constituency is a priority for me.
Defending our sovereignty and the democratic right of the British people to decide who governs them and makes the laws that affect them is also important. This is why I believe that the people of Witham should be given a referendum on our membership of the European Union as soon as possible and the Human Rights Act should be scrapped. I also support tougher controls on immigration to protect our borders and ensure that foreign criminals and terrorists are removed. Only a Conservative Government elected at the General Election can deliver these policies.
During the course of the campaign, I have already visited local businesses, charities, and residents throughout my constituency, with many more visits planned between now and polling day on 7 May.
If you would like to get in touch or need my help and advice, during the election campaign I can be contacted: by email, to pritipatel4witham@gmail.com; by post, to Priti Patel, Witham Constituency Conservative Association, Avenue Lodge, The Avenue, Witham, Essex CM8 2DL; and by telephone, on 01376 520 649.
Priti Patel, Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate for Witham