Labour Promises Support for Prison Officers At Breaking Point

Clive Johnson, Labour Candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey today expressed his support for the Prison Service and for Prison Officers

Clive said today, ‘I know from my conversations with prison officers how hard their lives have been made by years of Conservative austerity.  7,000 officers have been lost to the service since 2010 and the rate of staff leaving the service is unacceptably high.  The role they perform is vital to society, making a difference to the lives of prisoners and helping to protect us all, but government action over the last nine years has made their lives much more difficult.  Government action to buy out experienced and expensive staff has resulted in a hardworking but inexperienced workforce.  Staffing levels are unacceptably low and the violence that prison officers face in prisons is intolerable.  With 27 assaults on staff per day, our prisons are the most dangerous workplace in Western Europe.  In November, it was revealed that 125 improvised knives had been discovered at Swaleside Prison.  This Conservative record on the prison service is shameful.  Labour has promised to restore prison officer numbers to 2010 levels, end dangerous lone-working, tackle the maintenance backlog and review Conservative plans for the prison officers’ retirement age to be raised to 68, an absurd high age, given the physical and other challenges of the job.  Also, a Labour government will restore public services, in particular, the public and mental health and substance misuse support, which have been cut by the Conservative government.  The loss of those services has fuelled so many social problems, including the rise in the prison population.  It is time to end the assumption that we can dump all our social problems on prison officers and simply expect them to cope.  I’m proud that Labour will show the support prison officers desperately need and I will fight hard as MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey for them and for the vital service they provide.’

Labour Candidate Concerned about Health Delays in Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Clive Johnson, Labour Candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, today expressed his level of concern at the worries that residents have of delays in obtaining prompt GP appointments and the often long waits for health treatment.

Clive said today, ‘I’ve spoken to increasing numbers of residents as we have been canvassing who are worried about access to health care.  They tell me that they can wait weeks for an appointment with their GP, leading to extended periods of discomfort or worry.  When they are seen and then require treatment, the waiting lists are growing, adding to anxiety.  It is a sorry picture.  We all admire the NHS, but it is starved of the investment it needs, there are thousands of staff vacancies and facilities and equipment need renewal.  I welcome the new medical school and I hope this will provide a supply of locally trained doctors in the future but this will take time to have an impact.  I taught English to people who wanted to train as nurses when I worked at MidKent College.  I thought it was a tragedy when the government ended the nurse’s bursary, contributing to the massive shortage of nurses which we see now across the service.  I’ve also supported campaigns locally to locate the Hyper Acute Stroke Unit locally, where the levels of need are highest.  I’m pleased to say, as the Labour candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, that a Labour government will invest in the NHS to give patients modern, well-resourced services. We will increase expenditure across the health sector by an average 4.3% a year and our investments mean we deliver the standards of care that the people of Sittingbourne and Sheppey deserve.  Labour will also ensure that timescales for investigations and treatment are vigorously monitored and that patients will know who to contact when there are delays.’

This the forum that is being delivered to homes in Sittingbourne from this weekend.