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Millions of patients will be treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of health professionals, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has set out today, as the Government’s Plan for Change delivers a brand-new era for the NHS and delivers one of the most seismic shifts in care in the history of the health service.
The launch of a Neighbourhood Health Service will see pioneering teams, some based entirely under one roof, set up in local communities across the country, to dramatically improve access to the NHS. As part of the Government’s aim to shift care out of hospitals and into the community, they will free up overstrained hospitals from perpetual firefighting so they can focus on delivering only the best, most cutting-edge, and personalised care.
These neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services right on people’s doorsteps – stopping them from having to make lengthy trip to hospitals. Neighbourhood teams will include staff like nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, health visitors, palliative care staff, and paramedics. Community health workers and volunteers will play a pivotal role in these teams, and local areas will be encouraged to trial innovative schemes like community outreach door-to-door – to detect early signs of illness and reduce pressure on GPs and A&E.
Launching the government’s 10 Year Health Plan today, the Prime Minister will set out how moving care from hospitals to the community is one of the three key shifts required to tackle the inherited challenges and neglect of the NHS, make sure it is equipped to look after a modern society, and ensure people feel the change and improvements in healthcare that they voted for.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“The NHS should be there for everyone, whenever they need it. But we inherited a health system in crisis, addicted to a sticking plaster approach, and unable to face up to the challenges we face now, let alone in the future. That ends now because it’s reform or die. Our 10 Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people’s doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place. That means giving everyone access to GPs, nurses, and wider support all under one roof in their neighbourhood – rebalancing our health system so that it fits around patients’ lives, not the other way round. This is not an overnight fix, but our Plan for Change is already turning the tide on years of decline with over four million extra appointments, 1,900 more GPs and waiting lists at their lowest level for two years. But there’s more to come. This government is giving patients easier, quicker and more convenient care, wherever they live.”
The plan follows Lord Darzi’s diagnosis of the challenges facing the NHS last year where he assessed it was in a ‘critical condition’ as a result of deep rooted issues including low productivity, poor staff morale, a failure to keep up with new technology, rising waiting times, and a deterioration in the health of the nation.
The PM will set out how the plan will deliver three key shifts to get the NHS back on its feet: hospital to community; analogue to digital; and sickness to prevention. Built around these three principles, the reforms within the plan will deliver the government’s promise to stop rising waiting lists, deliver more convenient care, and tackle inequalities across the country.
New health centres will house the neighbourhood teams, which will eventually be open 12 hours a day, six days a week within local communities. They will not only bring historically hospital based services into the community – diagnostics, post-operative care, and rehab – but will also offer services like debt advice, employment support and stop smoking or weight management, all of which will help tackle issues which we know affect people’s health.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“Our 10 Year Health Plan will turn the NHS on its head, delivering one of the most fundamental changes in the way we receive our healthcare in history. By shifting from hospital to community, we will finally bring down devastating hospital waiting lists and stop patients going from pillar to post to get treated. This Government’s Plan for Change is creating an NHS truly fit for the future, keeping patients healthy and out of hospital, with care closer to home and in the home.”
The status quo of ‘hospital by default’ will end, with a new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digital-by-default, in a patient’s home where possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary. This approach will make access to healthcare more convenient for patients and easier to fit around their day to day lives, rather than disrupting people’s work and personal lives.
Thousands more GPs will be trained under the 10 Year Health Plan, as the Government lays the groundwork to bring back the family doctor, end the 8am scramble and make it easier to see your GP when you need to instead of having to turn to A&E. The government inherited an analogue NHS, reliant on paper and fax machines and out of step with modern technology. The government’s plan will bring it into the digital age, making sure staff benefit from the advantages and efficiencies available from new technology. This includes rolling out groundbreaking new tools over the next two years to support GPs. AI scribes will end the need for clinical notetaking, letter drafting, and manual data entry to free up clinicians’ time to focus on treating patients. Saving just 90 seconds on each GP appointment can save the same time as adding 2,000 more doctors into general practice.
The Government will also use digital telephony so all phone calls to GP practices are answered quickly. For those who need it, they will get a digital or telephone consultation the same day they request it.
As it stands, some practices are struggling to keep up with an ageing population and 21st century health needs. New contracts will be introduced which encourage and allow practices to cover a wider geographical area. It means smaller practices in the catchment area will get more support to ensure the right access is in place so that everyone can access their GP when they need to.
I am deeply concerned by the government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation. This decision dangerously conflates direct action tactics aimed at disrupting an ongoing genocide with violent acts of terror aimed at causing loss of life. In doing so, it sets an incredibly dangerous precedent for freedom of speech and assembly that runs entirely counter to the UK’s strong tradition of protest and dissent.
I acted as a teller for the ‘Noes’ on the 2nd July 2025, facilitating the vote. My name appears just above other colleagues who voted ‘No’ on Parliament’s website.
We must keep the issue being protested at the forefront of this discussion. In Gaza, we are witnessing a genocide. We now know that the 56,000 Palestinians reported killed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health is a conservative estimate. There has been a devastating blockade of food, fuel, and water. We are seeing Palestinians bombed to death in their own home and shot dead at so-called aid points by the IDF on a daily basis. Hospitals, homes and schools in the area have been flattened.
This proscription of Palestine Action suggests that ministers are more preoccupied with activists causing property damage than the utter destruction of human life we are witnessing in Gaza. It is a kneejerk reaction to an embarrassing security breach for the government, which debases the definition of terrorism, undermines the purpose of proscription and wastes resources which should be used to go after actual terrorists.
The process the government is using to steamroller this change through should also raise alarm bells. MPs had just two days to reflect on the statutory instrument, first laid before the House on Monday the 30th of June. We had just only 90 minutes to debate the merits of proscription for Palestine Action. Because of the brevity of the debate, I was not even able to express the overwhelming opposition that people in Clapham & Brixton Hill had shared with me ahead of the vote. This is a completely insufficient timeframe for consideration, with minimal scrutiny, consultation and thought.
The statutory instrument deliberately conflates Palestine Action with two violent Neo-Nazi organisations: the Moldovan ‘Maniacs Murder Cult’, and the ‘Russian Imperial Movement’. Effectively, MPs are being asked to vote in favour of the motion (proscribing all three groups) or vote against it (proscribing none). I have no problem with proscribing violent Neo-Nazi death cults, which is what proscription is designed for. Unfortunately, the government’s shameful conflation of Palestine Action with these movements left me with no choice but to oppose the motion altogether.
In the early 2000s, our Prime Minister was on the right side of history as part of the defence team that defended the Fairford Five, anti-war activists who broke into RAF Fairford to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. He correctly defended their actions on the basis that they were proportionate and necessary to prevent the commission of war crimes. This is a crucial legal principle that offers people some protection when they take necessary and proportionate action to prevent ongoing harm. There are other pieces of legislation that deal with instances of property damage.
Under the last government, we witnessed a steady degradation of our democratic rights as the Tories sought to counter the successes of environmental and anti-racist protest movements whose aims and ideas they fundamentally disagreed with. Legislation like the Public Order Act and the Policing Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act took aim at the tactics of Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter and anti-genocide protesters. It reframed courageous struggles for a greener, more equal and peaceful future as an issue of public nuisance, danger and disruption. In doing so, it made it harder for all of us to raise our voices on other issues. It is deeply disappointing to see the government veering off down the same reactionary road, whilst we still do not even have a full arms embargo, let alone sanctions on a foreign power that is committing a genocide.
From the Abolitionists to the Chartists and the Suffragettes, our country’s rich tradition of dissent has paved the way for the rights and freedoms we all enjoy today. These groups were vilified as terrorists in their own time and vindicated by history. The government should take note.
The post Statement – Palestine Action Proscription Vote appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
You may have read the article that appeared in the Sunday Times online on 28 June and be concerned about what it reports. This note is intended to give you some further context and to reassure you that I am fully committed to my public service, to my constituents in Mid Norfolk and to all the obligations that go with that.
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Before being elected to Parliament in 2010, I had a 15-year career founding, managing, and investing in high growth businesses in the science and technology sector.
Throughout my parliamentary career I have sought to bring my subject specialist expertise in science, technology and innovation to my various positions in government (PM Adviser on Life Science 2010-12, First UK Minister for Life Science (2012-14), Minister of State for the Future of Transport (2019-20), Minister of State for Science in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; and first Minister of State in the newly formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technolog). More recently as a backbench MP working cross party as Deputy Chair of the Science Select Committee, Chair of the All Party Group (APPG”) for Agricultural science and the APPG for Science in Parliament , and as a UK Trade Envoy.
Since leaving Government in 2023 I have also worked with a small number of new science and technology companies, projects and research charities on the cutting edge of new sectors.
However, mindful of my obligations as an elected member of Parliament, governed by the Parliamentary Code of Conduct, I have always been careful to register my outside interests and ensure I have approval from the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) for commercial work, and provided full disclosure of my private interests on the Register and to my Select Committee and APPGs.
I have always taken the first duty of an MP to act in the public interest very seriously and I have been clear that my legitimate personal interests should never prejudice that responsibility.
I stood for Parliament again in 2024 in the hope that I could continue to make a valuable contribution to Parliament, the UK Innovation Economy and the new government’s ambitions for innovation-led growth and Industrial Strategy by working cross party supporting long term policies for key emerging technology sectors.
By drawing on my longstanding experience, I have been keen to contribute to the growth of the UK as a leader in key emerging industrial and technology sectors. Specifically in space, advocating for the importance of the UK’s regulatory leadership in space debris, space health and Earth Observation and emissions tracking in creating a UK sovereign industrial advantage.
In this general advocy I have tried to tread the line of drawing on insights gained by working with companies. I do not believe that I have ever crossed the line of advocating in Parliament for a particular company which I advise.
On 28 November 2024, I asked a member of my parliamentary staff to submit a number of Written Parliamentary Questions (“WPQs”) related to the importance of the UK Earth Observation sector and satellite data for greenhouse gas émissions monitoring as a key UK industrial and regulatory opportunity.
In preparing these questions, I enlisted the help of my client GHGSat Ltd. (The terms of my engagement with whom were all cleared by ACOBA and registered through the appropriate channels.)
Because of their expertise in the greenhouse gas emissions framework, as a world leading provider of satellite-based methane plume monitoring, I asked GHGSat Ltd for their assistance in drafting the WPQs.
I was not asked by GHGSat Ltd to table the WPQs, and which were not intended to derive any specific commercial or political benefit for them. GHGSat Ltd already had an established contract and relationship with the UK Government and Space Agency. I tabled the WPQs because I believed it to be in the public interest to highlight the opportunity for the UK and raise awareness of this sector in the new Government. I also ticked the box on the WPQ form to signal that I had an interest in the field.
Nevertheless, I am mindful that The Sunday Times newspaper has questioned my motives in tabling these WPQs, and made the very damaging suggestion that I tabled these questions in order to secure specific commercial advantage for GHG Sat Ltd, and that I was paid to do so. I fundamentally reject this allegation. Not only did GHG Sat Ltd not ask or need me to raise their contract with UK Government, my monthly retainer is for defined other services and specifically precludes - on my insistence and with their agreement - any lobbying. I understand and try to assiduously follow the Code of Conduct for MPs, in particular the need to act in the public interest above all else.
The newspaper also alleges that I made inappropriate use of my Parliamentary office facilities and equipment for conducting my non-Parliamentary work. I make specific provision to use only my personal IT and computer for non-Parliamentary work and when hosting online meetings.
Nevertheless, I have always understood the need to be transparent in the work I do for commercial clients and charities and am always willing to answer any criticism. As such, upon publication of the story, I am immediately referring myself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and will accept his judgment in due course.
Whilst I absolutely accept the public interest in this issue and the importance of free press scrutiny, I believe the source of this story is a targeted personal attack and more importantly that the source materials on which the accusations are based have been obtained and used unlawfully. This represents a major breech of personal and Parliamentary cyber security which I have raised with the Police and relevant parliamentary authorities.
It is vital for public trust in Parliament that MPs not just do the right thing but are seen to respect the rules and procedures of the House which we all serve.
The post June Newsletter appeared first on Mohammad Yasin MP.
In May, I was delighted to take part in Leicester Made 2025, an event showcasing the city’s dynamic fashion and textiles sector.
Leicester Made is an online directory designed for anyone, whether in the UK or overseas, looking to source or manufacture in Leicester.
It was brilliant to meet with manufacturers, retailers, and industry leaders, and the discussion was inspiring. I am passionate about creating meaningful job opportunities for young people, something I know was shared by others at the event.
Leicester is home to some of the best textile businesses in the country, and I’m proud that Leicester remains at the forefront of the evolving sector in this country!
The post Liz at Leicester Made! appeared first on Liz Kendall.
It was great to call into Neighbourhood Watch in Pelsall again and catch up with Edwin and Andrew.
We discussed a range of local issues across the Rushall, Shelfield, Pelsall, and Brownhills Neighbourhood Watch area. Our focus was on how we can work together as one community to address these challenges.
It was also fantastic to hear about Project Phoenix – a pilot community-run initiative launched by Walsall Council! This project is dedicated to building a stronger community right across our Borough, and I’m really keen to see the positive impact it will have.
After a good kicking at elections, the usual and heavily anticipated response from the ruling party is that we are listening. But this isn’t going to wash. Labour needs a reset.
Sir Keir Starmer has shown strong leadership internationally and he needs to start showing the same leadership in our own country and stop the Government pussyfooting around. He should take a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book by following his instincts and issuing some executive orders. This is leadership from the front.
Where are the child abuse inquiries where the victims are still seeking justice? Telford-style inquiries should be set up immediately in the towns and cities where grooming gangs are running rings around the authorities.
There should be an immediate introduction of digital ID cards, required for employment and accessing public services. This is the only way to stop illegal immigration.
Free our public services from the pressures of Covid debts so they have the finances to deliver on our priorities by writing them off. Our schools and hospitals can be lifted from the shackles of debt in the way quantitative easing was used when Gordon Brown brought stability during the banking crisis. This would be a game-changer.
People are fed up with being told how to run their lives by people looking down their noses at them. We have a huge problem with our messaging; it is failing to hit the mark. Slogans on meeting our net zero targets are a prime example. They are meaningless for people who are facing rising energy costs and purchasing an electric car is an unattainable luxury.
The language needs to shift to the guarantee of green energy in order to get free hot water and cheaper electricity bills. Building on our security by making Britain self-reliant in energy production.
While the Government is busy talking to itself the voices of those on the outside are not being listened to. The realities of living in areas where there have been no big transport projects or huge development investments needs to have a voice around the table. Our lives are very different from the metropolis, our choices, and opportunities, less, our facilities are more remote or non-existent.
The demands raised by the new Labour MPs from the post-industrial towns, where infrastructure is poor and there have been years of disinvestment, and where large numbers voted for Brexit and have now switched to Reform, must be taken off the to-do list and urgently actioned. We know this works.
Ros Jones, the re-elected Labour mayor of Doncaster, made reopening Doncaster airport her number-one priority. The Government committed £30 million investment and she was rewarded at the ballot box.
While over half the country voted for Brexit, there isn’t a single person sitting in the Government who backed the EU leave deal. Where are the voices of the 40 Labour MPs who argued in favour of respecting the referendum? The number of government ministers representing leave-voting constituencies is insignificant.
Both Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher brought in people who were not like them, possibly people that they didn’t even like, and they were certainly people they sometimes disagreed with. This Government needs to step outside its comfort zone. Sir Keir needs to spend more time travelling the country quietly listening to what people are really thinking. This is a sign of a confident government.
Now we need to be honest with ourselves and address the issue that has hung like a weight around our shoulders since the early days of this Government, the Winter Fuel Allowance has now become our poll tax problem. We have lost the pensioner vote because of this; I hear the anger. To serve as the Government that listens, we should be immediately raising the threshold to the higher income tax level, and it is an executive order that my constituents in Bassetlaw would all welcome.
When Harold Wilson first became prime minister in 1964, the country had been left in a ruinous state with an £800 million deficit. Tough decisions were taken, including freezing a pensions rise, and there were concerns about rising immigration. A by-election disaster led to a reset. A Labour MP at the time commented: “The prime minister was becoming just a technician. [The by-election] forced him to remember what it was to be a political leader.” Wilson went on to win a landslide less than a year later. Sir Keir can take lessons from his approach
The post Starmer must stop ‘pussyfooting around’ – Jo White appeared first on Jo White MP.
I have been honoured to sit on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Committee since January 2025, collaborating to work on the momentous piece of legislation. My focus has been making a workable Bill with adequate safeguards. The last sitting of the Committee took place on the 25th March, 2025, where I spoke
The post Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Committee appeared first on Sean Woodcock, Labour MP for Banbury.
An abridged version of this article ran in The Times on 3rd February 2025
In 2007, in the pages of this newspaper, I argued that Britain should seize the moment and move Heathrow to the Thames Estuary, freeing up the congested west London site for much-needed housing while creating a world-leading transport hub fit for the 21st century. It was an ambitious plan—perhaps too ambitious for a nation that has lost its appetite for grand infrastructure. Seventeen years later, what do we have? The same tired debates, the same dithering, and now, a third runway proposal that represents the absolute minimum of what could be done. It is not a vision; it is a concession to stagnation.
Throughout history, Britain built infrastructure that transformed cities and continents. The Victorians laid thousands of miles of railways across India and Africa. British engineers built the world’s first underground railway in London, the great docks of Hong Kong, and the vast shipping hubs that made global trade possible. Ours was once a nation that saw scale and complexity as challenges to be overcome, not reasons to prevaricate. Today, while China constructs floating airports in Hong Kong and Dalian, we are still arguing over a few extra miles of tarmac at an aging airport hemmed in by suburban sprawl.
The case for expanding Heathrow is undeniable. The airport operates at near capacity, with any disruption causing delays that ripple across the global aviation network. Additional capacity is needed. But the third runway is not a bold leap forward—it is an unimaginative compromise. The design is a relic of a bygone era when Britain was still willing to approve large infrastructure projects but had already begun its slow descent into cautious incrementalism. Surely for a solution we should be looking beyond the immediate horizon, daring to create something transformative.
Compare this to the grand infrastructure ambitions of Asia. Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok, which replaced the legendary but perilous Kai Tak airport in the 1990s, was built on reclaimed land. It was a marvel of engineering (mostly British), completed in just six years. Now, China is taking the concept even further: Dalian is constructing a floating airport, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This is a country that doesn’t simply accept geographic limitations—it overcomes them. Britain, meanwhile, is paralysed by protest groups, endless consultations, and political hand-wringing.
A floating airport in the Thames Estuary—an idea proposed and swiftly dismissed—would have been a statement of ambition. London could have had its own Chek Lap Kok, a world-class hub unencumbered by the constraints of Heathrow’s location. Instead, we are left with a piecemeal expansion of an outdated site, in a project that will take decades and still leave Britain trailing behind.
The environmental argument against expansion is often cited as a reason for delay, but it is a red herring. Modern aviation is rapidly advancing towards lower emissions and greater efficiency. If the concern is air pollution and carbon footprints, the answer is not to stifle airport expansion but to embrace new technology, support cleaner aviation fuels, and invest in modern air traffic management. Britain should be leading these efforts, not using environmental concerns as an excuse for stagnation.
The economic cost of our hesitation is immense. Aviation is a key driver of trade, tourism, and investment. Heathrow’s constraints mean we lose out to European rivals, with airlines shifting long-haul routes to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. The third runway, even if built, will do little to reclaim lost ground. By the time it is operational—assuming it even survives the judicial challenges that will inevitably come—other nations will have long since surpassed us.
What Britain needs is a fundamental shift in mindset. We must stop viewing major infrastructure projects as necessary evils to be endured and start treating them as national priorities. This requires reforming our planning laws, streamlining approval processes, and fostering a political culture that celebrates engineering excellence rather than recoiling from it.
The third runway at Heathrow is not the answer—it is a symptom of our decline. Instead of an afterthought tacked onto an aging airport, we should be considering radical alternatives: offshore airports, high-speed rail integration to regional hubs, and a renewed commitment to infrastructure that places Britain at the forefront of global connectivity. We were once a nation that built the world’s most advanced transport networks, that pioneered engineering breakthroughs others only dreamed of. We can be that nation again—but only if we stop settling for mediocrity and start daring to think bigger.
The world is not waiting for Britain to catch up. While we squabble over a single new runway, China is building entire new airports on water. The contrast is stark, and the lesson is clear: boldness breeds success, hesitation ensures decline. If Britain truly wishes to remain a global player, we must abandon the timid incrementalism of the third runway and embrace the kind of audacity that once made us great.
Kit Malthouse 1st February 2025
Christmas is a very special time. It's when we come together with friends and family to take stock, and give thanks for what we have.
Some years – in the best of times, this is cause for celebration.
Other years – it's more complicated if we're missing loved ones,
affected by illness, or facing money worries, homelessness, or loneliness.
Sometimes – let’s be honest, for many reasons, Christmas can just be about getting through it, and that's ok!
Because regardless of the year that’s been, or the circumstances you find yourself in, Christmas offers everyone a precious gift – hope.
Last week I was sworn in as the MP for South Shields for the fifth time, and each time it strikes me how incredibly honoured I feel that you have put your faith in me as the first female MP to represent you in Parliament. It was a truly historic night as the UK elected […]
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