Eid Mubarak to all those who celebrated this week. I hope this has been an opportunity to gather, spend time with family and honour the end of a blessed month.
This week, Labour promised to allow every community to take back control of their local bus services.
Our plan could end up creating and saving 1,300 vital bus routes and allow 250 million more passenger journeys per year when compared to today’s crumbling system. We will also end the postcode lottery of bus services by providing safeguards over local networks across the country.
Unlike London and Manchester, communities in the West Midlands have no control over their bus networks. Communities should be empowered to build the bus networks that they rely on.
Labour will:
Empower local transport authorities
Support public ownership
Speed up the franchising process
People in the West Midlands have a chance to vote for change on 2nd May. Labour’s candidate, Richard Parker, will bring our buses under public control, so we have a say in how and when they run. Vote for Richard Parker.
111 Calls Dentistry
In response to a question I asked the Government, it was revealed that nearly five million people called NHS 111 for dental problems in the last five years as millions of patients have nowhere else to turn.
This year, over 1.2 million calls were made this year to NHS 111 for dental problems – a record high. On average, a whopping 3,347 calls a day were made on average for the year 2023/4 compared to 2,024 calls made in 2019/20. These sky-high figures even trump the number of 111 calls made during the pandemic (1.1 million in 2020/1), when patients could not see an NHS dentist.
The sky-rocketing number of 111 calls shows the Tories’ destruction on NHS dentistry is putting the rest of the NHS under greater pressure. After 14 years of Tory neglect, patients are desperately queuing around the block to see a dentist, literally pulling their own teeth out, and tooth decay is the number one reason young children are admitted to hospital. It’s time for a change.
Labour has a plan to rescue NHS dentistry, and reform it for the long run. We will fund 700,000 extra urgent appointments a year; deliver a targeted recruitment scheme for dentists in left-behind areas; and we will get straight to work on reforming the outdated NHS dental contract.
More reported in The Probe:
Violence Against Shopworkers
Last winter, I visited a Co-operative shop in the constituency, where workers told me of the scale of physical and verbal abuse they face daily.
At last, the Government has finally U-turned on its refusal to make violence against shop workers a standalone offence. This is the result of powerful campaigning from Usdaw, the Co-operative Party and the Labour Party.
Local News
Transport for West Midlands
The Midland Metro Alliance and Transport for West Midlands have created a tool kit compiling updated travel advice. Bus services previously serviced by MS16 will now be serviced by MS12 from 7th April, as our work on Moor Street Queensway begins.
You can download the tool kit by clicking on the PDF below.
Harborne Phonebox Campaign
The Harborne Phonebox Campaign aims to repair and renovate a local phonebox and repurpose it as a defibrillator hub.
More information below:
MHWC
Next week, the MHWC will be visiting Green Lane, B32 1EP, on Monday 15th April, and Kelmscott Road, B17 8QW, on Wednesday 17th April. The centre will be open from 07:30 till 13:00, so please come along if you have bulky household waste to dispose of.
Job Vacancies
I am currently hiring a policy assistant and constituency caseworker to join my team in Birmingham Edgbaston.
If you want to be part of a diverse and dynamic team and are passionate about making a difference, please apply before the end of today. Job adverts linked below.
Campaigning
This week, it was great to join Labour’s local candidate Sarah Coombs and Dalel Singh Bhamra campaigning in West Bromwich. If you would like to support me campaigning and join me doorknocking, please contact: officeofpreetgill@gmail.com.
Vaisakhi
I want to wish a very happy Vaisakhi to my many wonderful Sikh constituents, and everyone who is celebrating across the UK and around the world this Saturday.
It’s a time for us to reflect on the devotion of the Panj Pyare, the five beloved ones, and the values on which the Khalsa Panth was founded — the defence of freedom, equality, and the betterment of all.
I hope that you’ll be able to visit your Gurdwara, celebrate safely with your families and join some of the many various Vaisakhi events taking place this week.
Best wishes,
Preet Kaur Gill MP
Birmingham Edgbaston covering Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne and Quinton
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