The values of our NHS should be at the heart of our economy

So we’re now within 100 days of the General Election. I bet most people outside the Westminster bubble won’t see it in those terms, or care, for that matter. In fact, they are probably already fed up with the constant TV coverage about it.

For many people, ‘100 days’ simply means three more pay cheques where their basic outgoings exceed what they’re bringing in. It means three more calls to a payday lender to bridge the difference. It might even mean three more awful visits to the pawn shop.

We know that for nearly a million people in this country it’s another way of saying fourteen weekly visits to a food bank as they try to feed themselves and their families.

And for many more, this final furlong to the general election simply means eking out a living in an economy that grows colder the further away you move from the South-East of England and where government cuts, in cities like Liverpool, are making the situation worse.

Between 2010 and 2017, we will have lost 58% of our budget. That’s £330 million taken out of our local economy. It also means 2,200 job losses for the council. In total, 9,100 public sector jobs across the city have been lost.

This is all the more galling because we have had real success in bringing the private sector to the city. As the Centre for Cities found recently, Liverpool has managed to create 7,700 private sector jobs, despite being hobbled by weak UK growth and massive cuts. If we’d had a fair wind these past few years, Liverpool would be storming ahead.

Instead, we are left with an endless ConDem squeeze on frontline services. It seems we have to announce cuts to services and cuts to the voluntary service sector – who we rely on and need – on a daily basis.

We have worked hard to preserve what we have, trying to protect those, who, in many cases, desperately need the services we provide; while at the same time remaining focused on regeneration and jobs. It’s like going into a boxing ring for a fight with one hand tied behind your back and a blindfold around your eyes.

The people I represent are sick and tired of being in the firing line when it comes to dealing with the social and economic misery caused by five years of drift and indifference from this government.

Never have I, or other council leaders, made special pleas for more funding, although there is a strong case for doing so. We simply call for a fair funding deal from the government. The poorest councils are being hit hardest, so the poorest people and communities are suffering most.

There are two strap lines that need to be remembered that sum up this Condem government’s failings and it will focus people’s minds on why they should vote – and vote them out: “We’re all in it together” and “The Big Society”.

What we need in future is a new approach to running our economy and funding our public services – one that learns from the principles of how we should run our NHS.

One that doesn’t leave anyone behind or write them off. An approach that cares for all and treats people decently and with respect. An economy that supports the weak and redistributes wealth on the basis of need.

As Ed Miliband put it yesterday, the NHS isn’t just the right principle for our grandparents’ generation, it’s the right principle for our grandchildren’s generation too.

The NHS is a shining star and our most cherished institution because it is something that touches all our lives. Its values are timeless and represent the best of this country: Hope, selflessness, compassion and solidarity.

The next Labour government should ensure that same approach – those same enduring values – are put at the heart of how we manage our economy and public services in future.

Joe Anderson is the Mayor of Liverpool