My home city of Derby has been transformed by Labour

By Chris Williamson

Imagine a Derby with 327 fewer doctors, 701 fewer nurses and 92 fewer midwives. Picture a Derby where 13 of our new schools suddenly ceased to exist, where they were either replaced by older, less appropriate buildings or by no provision at all. Or visualise a Derby without the nine children’s centres built in the last 13 years, and where the 10 others created as extensions to schools simply weren’t there anymore.

Would it be a poorer place to live? Would you worry about the medical provision, particularly for elderly or vulnerable people? Would you be concerned about the quality of education, or the out-of-hours offering for children?

Thankfully, that vision of Derby is no longer a reality. But, unbelievably, just 13 years ago, it was.

Since 1997, Labour investment in health services has created all those extra posts for doctors, nurses and midwives, including the creation of a state-of-the-art hospital. That is why the lengthy waiting lists that were commonplace under the Tories have been eliminated. It’s how the NHS in Derby is able to treat people in need of medical treatment quickly. And it’s why people no longer die while waiting for urgent operations.

Labour’s commitment to education has brought the building of all those new schools and children’s centres, as well as two new colleges in the Joseph Wright Centre and the Roundhouse. Record numbers of teachers and teaching assistants have been appointed, helping many more of our young people to achieve their full potential.

But that’s not all that’s changed. Transport in Derby is unrecognisable since Labour swept to power in 1997, with a new bus station set to open in the coming weeks, a new railway station being development and a new ring road under construction.

It’s pretty incredible when you look at Derby now and you think about how things have changed since 1997. Over the years you tend not to notice as things gradually change around you, but it’s when you sit back and reflect on how things were and how they are now that you really appreciate the leaps forward that have been made.

And that’s just in Derby. Take a look at the national picture and it’s clear to see the improvements to the quality of life for people in Britain. A rising minimum wage has lifted many people out of poverty, while pensioners now benefit from winter fuel payments and free use of the national bus network. Crime has been slashed since 1997, with a 36% drop overall. Domestic burglary has fallen by 54%, vehicle-related crime by 57% and violent crime is down by 41%.

Initiatives that were long overdue under the old Tory government have been brought forward, like making it free for people to see their country’s artefacts at museums and art galleries.

And, of course, it was the Labour government that listened to the people and finally outlawed fox hunting after years of Tory support for this barbaric pastime. Indeed fox hunting was once described as the Tory Party at play.

With a General Election coming up, and after 13 years of Labour rule, it’s only healthy that people are challenging the Government to keep on improving things.

But the days of Margaret Thatcher and John Major are behind us. Britain generally, and Derby specifically, is a far better place to live now as a result.