LABOUR’S parliamentary candidate for Thurrock has criticised his political rival – sitting Tory MP Jackie Doyle-Price – after hearing of government plans for new hospitals across the country.
Thurrock has escaped any mention in the plans which John Kent says is because of her sycophantic attitude to government, health and the well-being of her party rather than the borough residents.
He contrasts her support for the closure of aging Orsett Hospital with that of fellow Tory MP Robert Halfon who had been an ardent campaigner for local health services in his Harlow constituency and his work has been rewarded with news that town’s Princess Alexandra Trust will receive money to replace their existing hospital from 2020 to 2025.
This could be a re-build on the existing estate or a completely new hospital on a new green field site in east Harlow, around three miles from its current site.
Mr Halfon says: ““I am absolutely thrilled this day has come. I have worked hard with so many wonderful, passionate people on this campaign. For the rest of my life, I know that I will have played a major part in getting a new hospital for our town. I could not be happier.”
That, says Mr Kent, contrast with Ms Doyle-Price’s backing for plans to close Orsett Hospital.
He says: “If there was ever an opportunity to show what Jackie Doyle-Price hasn’t done for Thurrock, this is it. On one hand we have a local MP who campaigns hard, aggressively and respects the wishes of his community – in Jackie Doyle-Price we have an MP who puts herself and her party first, borough residents last and leaves Orsett Hospital a long way behind that.
“When I am elected to represent Thurrock I will always put Thurrock first – fighting for better services will be at the heart of my workload.
I will go out and fight for borough residents and improve their lot, not strip away local assets by being a weak-willed sycophant supporting the destruction of much-loved services in our borough.”
Is there no end to this man’s hypocrisy?????. This is all just fake news. Lets get a balanced reminder here. It was LABOUR who CLOSED TILBURY HOSPITAL and it was LABOUR who CLOSED ORSETT HOSPITAL….remember that Johnny boy – I thought not.
It was John Presscot who signed Orsett’s death knell. To all the people who choose not to remember, didn’t LABOUR say ” Things can only get better”. LABOUR BULLSH*T at it’s finest. That said, it did get better for Blair & Presscott.
Folk’s, Google how much they money they have made from their time in office. Is Kent any different, I think not.
TGDH you can keep living in the past but what has JDP done for us over the years since she replaced McKinlay as our ears in Westminster?
She was quoted as saying “Orsett really isn’t a hospital”, that is how out of touch the lady is! I use Orsett for a number of different services many times a year (it is my most local source of NHS) and a fine hospital servicie it gives, now thanks to her primitive thoughts, those clown princes of the hallowed halls and government believe that Thurrock is well covered for the health service. Forget about 20 / 30 years we live in the future not the PAST, the forward thinking Tories now believe Thurrock has adequate health facilities (god help us when we get the new health pods) We have more residents now that ever before and thats just the ones we know about (thanks to ‘Maggie’ May) and have mostly outreach services, even in times when we are living longer and for many Orsett serves us well, I think the trail of bullshit came from your finger tips.
As for time in office and money made JDP is an fine example of feathering her own nest and ignoring the electorate, I do think JDP is very good at keeping under the radar and maximising her salary to suit her ends not ours.
Big Noise – it’s not about living in the past, it is stating fact LABOUR SHUT OUR HOSPITALS. Now i’m not a fan of JDP but she is right, Orsett is not really a hospital and that’s due to Labour, no one else.
Thurrock needs it’s own hospital and certainly far better health facilities and the decision to close and move services to Basildon was a Labour one. However, we cannot count on the Tories redressing the issue.
As for your comment that the trail of bullshit is from my fingertips – I talk fact here, tell me i’m wrong by all means if Labour isn’t responsible for shitting our hospitals….try and be honest here.
When we had a Conservative Government the local Labour Party blamed the wicked Tories for closing the A & E Department and the Maternity Unit at Orsett.
When we had a Labour Government the local Labour Party blamed the Local Health Trust for not opening an A & E Department or Maternity Unit at Orsett.
Some of us with long memories remember the Thurrock Labour Party very succesful (for Labour Local election candidates) ‘Save Orsett Hospital’ campaign to stop those wicked Tories from flogging off a big chunk of the site for housing.
Once we had a Labour Government the majority of the site was flogged off for housing anyway (rubber stamped by Depity Prime Minister John Prescott).
There are only two things to remember when Thurrock Labour Party play political football with the NHS.
1) When we have a Conservative Government anything that goes wrong is all those wicked Tories fault.
2) When we have a Labour Government anything that goes wrong is all the fault of the Local Health Trust. The Labour Governments hands are tied as the Health Trust is independent of the Government.
A bit more history.
Following the Labour General Election victory of 1997 the Labour Government Health Secretary appointed Ockendon Labour Councillor David Hooper as Chairman of Basildon and Thurrock Hospitals NHS Trust in December 1997.
The Labour Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, John Prescott, granted outline planning consent for up to 200 houses in 1999.
It was in 2003 that 14.6 acres of Orsett Hospital were sold for about £20 million to property developers.
Selling off vaste swathes of land prevented for good any chance of the Orsett Hospital site ever becoming a fully functioning modern hospital with A&E and maternity facilities.
This was done under a Labour Government by a Health Trust run by a politically appointed former Thurrock Labour Councillor.
When Labour were in opposition, and before Mr Hooper became Chairman of the Health Trust, Thurrock’s then Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay, speaking about plans to sell of land for housing at Orsett Hospital, called the then Chairman of the Trust incompetant, arrogant, selfish, insensitive, promoted completely out of her depths, complained about her wages and said the land at Orsett Hospital was demonstrably not redundant or surplus to requirements.
Months Later, following Labour’s victory of 1997 and former Labour Councillor Mr Hooper’s appointement in December 1997 as Chairman of the Trust the plans to sell off 5/6ths of the site continued unabated.
The silence from Labour politicians after 1997 was defeaning.
This is not a trail of bullshit from my fingertips but facts that can be found in numerous public records.
@thurrocksgonedownhill you mention Tilbury Hospital.
This was closed under the Labour Government of Harold Wilson in 1969.
Politics is a funny thing. Margaret Thatcher is forever immortalised by the miners strike and closing 160 coal mines.
Yet nobody recalls Harold Wilson closed 290 when he was Prime Minister.
There is a collective amnesia amonst the left that Labour Governments closed more mines and made more miners unemployed than the Conservative Government under Thatcher ever did.
Margaret Thatecher was also demonised by the left as Maggie Thatcher milk snatcher, when, as Education Secretary under Ted Heath ended free milk for over 7s in 1971.
Yet the selective amnesia of the left forgets that Harold Wilson’s Labour Government ended free school milk for all secondary school pupils just 3 years earlier in 1968.
Labour ‘snatched’ more milk from more children than Thatcher ever did.
More telling is when Labour won the 1974 General Election they failed to reinstate the ‘snatched’ milk they campaigned so hard against (convenienty forgetting they had already ‘snatched’ the free milk of secondary pupils in 1968). Four years of Labour Government and free milk never reinstated.
As with Orsett Hospital Labour are very selective on what bits of political history they want us to remember.
John Kent made a mess of Thurrock Council when leader of the Council, Don’t let him become him become one of the Crazy 3 with Corbyn and Abbott.
Ed – your posts are very informative, thank you. I am sure readers will see through the Labour,s vexatious claims.
The problem we have nowadays is you have the looney left all to dumb to realise what is happening out there. Their approach is all play nicely and spend, spend, spend.
I think Willow sums it up….the crazy 3…lol
The John Kent Classic when he lost control of Thurrock Council, he blamed the Tories of signing off thousands £££££ on investments on Solar Farms in the West Country, then as Your Thurrock reported he signed it off.
We know the man is a moral cripple along with his party.